Kage & Kaze: Rewrite
by KickXin
Summary: Two girls from a different world find themselves lost when they are taken in by Lord Sesshomaru as Rin's bodyguards, but that isn't the real reason they're allowed to stay. In a new world of political battles, can they survive?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own.

Rewrite: This story was written a long time ago and I left it in the hands of a beta and...they kind of ruined it. So, the story went in a weird direction and I wasn't sure how to continue because the point of writing the story was moot. Years later, I logged in and read the story and thought,"This is crap on a cracker." Instead of writing the story how I originally wanted it, I'm just going to continue on the this path and make shit up as I go. Enjoy.

Chapter One: Arriving

A low hiss as muscles strained to prop her body up. Ember eyes looked at the sky.

In a small clearing, a woman stood slowly looking at her unfamiliar surroundings. Beside her another body, this one unconscious, breathed slowly.

"Shit."

)O(

Sesshomaru paced around the palace, up the stairs, down the halls, across the library and training room. This wasn't the first time a portal had been opened from another world. After all, his brother's noisy companion managed to use one all the time. He managed to safely close most of them and disallowed the entrance of other beings into their world, but with the last portal he wasn't sure. The air around the eastern part of his lands smelled off. It was contaminated from something, but what puzzled the western lord was the matter that they couldn't find the source.

Sesshomaru passed his study and turned towards another hallway and stopped at a window where he looked out towards the eastern part of his lands. He would soon have to set out and find the nuisance. If it was alive, he would have to kill it. On several occasions, humans left their own worlds and would meet their bloody fate when confronted by the lord. It would not have been possible if a certain demon hadn't escaped prison. The time demon, Tempest, had begun opening portals in several places to throw search units off his scent and a month later has been successful. Every time a new portal would open up, the atmosphere would shift and it left the inhabitants in nearby regions uneasy at the disturbance.

"L-Lord Sesshomaru?" The regal lord looked down towards a small ugly toad demon waiting down the hall. Sesshomaru honestly didn't know why he kept the ugly demon around. It wore the ugliest of tunics and smelled of sake from the Inutaiyoukai's cellar.

"What, Jakken?" the annoyed dog demon bellowed out.

"Well, Mi-lord there is reason to believe more humans escaped the portal and has wondered west towards us. The search units want to know your plan of action."

The dog demon walked past the toad as he spoke, "Tell them I will deal with the problem myself."

)O(

Stumbling through shrubbery, the ember-eyed girl carried the still unconscious body on her back. "God, you weigh too much Nami!" The body on her back gave a satisfied snore as she comfortably dug her knees into the carrier's hips.

"Time to wake up Nami…" The dead weight gave a sudden yelp as she was dropped onto cold dirt.

"Hey, I was dreaming there!" The older of the two sighed while the younger sat on her bum in the midst of moss covered dirt.

The younger teenager got up and brushed the dirt off her fiery red hair. Her red eyes had shown through her long bangs while the rest of her hair was styled into a choppy bun. She smoothed out her red tank and black leggings and rearranged her sword that managed to jab her side on the fall. Near the top of her shoulder to forearms she donned a tattoo of a fierce, black and gray dragon.

The slightly older teen, Tsuki, looked down at her black baggy pants that had a new tear at the hem where the handles from two daggers that hung from her side managed to graze the fabric. On her upper body, she wore a dark green tank. Her long purple hair was braided behind her with tufts coming out to cover her face. She bore a tattoo on her back of a wispy fox.

"Tsuki, where the hell are we?" The redhead walked forward to a tree that had been marked with scratch marks. Looking around the tree she saw a rundown trail of trees plants dug out from their roots. "What the…"

"I think we should start moving and find somebody that could help us. Maybe not, especially if the folks around these parts aren't of the friendly variety." The older teen turned south and began walking in the opposite direction of the wreckage in the forest.

"Wait. I think we should explore first." Nami lit up at her own idea.

"You're still the same. We shouldn't explore because we aren't on familiar lands anymore. If we explored we could be going around in circles. Besides, I think the sooner we find people the sooner we eat."

The redhead nodded as her stomach growled on cue. They headed south Nami surveyed their surroundings. The air was pristine and fresher than what they normally breathed. The plants seemed healthier, an odd bright green. The sky even seemed bluer and the air was cool and refreshing. There was no smell of the city. There was no sound of sirens or traffic far off and no signs of any roads or highways. The forest was eerily quiet as they walked on. "Tsuki, you don't suppose we're in a different time, do you?"

"You **are** in a different time," replied a newcomer.

Both girls turned towards the direction of the voice and were perplexed by what they saw. A tall man slowly stalking towards them with long silver hair, yellow eyes, and a moon on his forehead above his brow. The purple markings on his face began from his high cheekbones and ended near the rear of his cheek. He wore a white haori adorned with red flowers on his left shoulder and heavy battle armor rested on his right shoulder and midsection. Two sword hilts rested on his side which on one of them the man's hand rested on.

Both blinked unknowingly at the stranger. The older was the first to talk,"Fuh-ck," and come up with something unintelligible to say.

Nami took this time to look at the man's stance knowing what Tsuki had been thinking. This man had come to kill them.

Tsuki finally executed a sentence and spoke to the man. "Is there any particular reason why you came here to kill us?" Nami gulped, as did Tsuki.

The man slid the killing instrument from his hilt with an incessant ringing and pointed it in their direction. "You don't belong here." Nami 'meeped' at his short reply. Tsuki eyebrows both raised at the short reply and the small meep. Nami turned to face Tsuki with a hopeless look in her eyes.

'Damn, that's the "look". What am I going to do...?'

'It's so…pathetic. Fine.' Tsuki knowing the other girl's inner wishes faced the regal looking man and said with an almost calm expression for she was trembling inside, "I can strike you a deal if you let us live."

The man narrowed his eyes at the two, "I don't make deals with humans."

A quick appearance of confusion flashed on Nami's face. She glanced over at Tsuki, noticing she picked up on the phrasing also by her taken–aback expression.

'He's not human?,' Nami almost seemed to ask silently to Tsuki.

"Could you at least listen to our offer first?" Tsuki pleaded, knowing very well the man (or whatever he may call himself) probably wouldn't grant her wish. Taking his silence as an approval she continued.

"Technically, if you let us live, we'll be in debt to you. You can use us to take care of errands, though we have special abilities that can help us provide another option for you. We can probably be a loved one's guardians-," seeing him narrow his eyes more at this she quickly continued albeit a little concerned for their well-being, "…or bodyguards of some one important enough to have us escort them."

The man seemed to consider the thought while contemplating whether it was a good idea to keep humans around. He glared at the two girls then with a flick of his hand his sword had slid back into its hilt. He continued to glare at them while he motioned for them to follow him.

A sigh of relief was barely heard, but audible enough for the dog demon to pick up on it. He was gratified at his ability to put others at a state of unease and would enjoy toying with these humans before he put them to "work." With each step they took towards his palace, the two humans grew apprehensive with the extended amount of silence.

As the sun finally hit the horizon, both girls finally saw the palace that belonged to the man before the sun actually disappeared beneath the earth's surface. It was huge. Beyond the outer walls, the estate's grounds was covered with exotic foliage and streams. Within the inner walls stood the great behemoth that was the palace.

As they stepped inside, a number of servants came forward to take the armor and the swords of the now known lord. The lord turned towards them before speaking in an icy voice, "You will address me as my honorific when you are in my palace. There will be under any circumstance no weapons allowed on the east wing of the palace. They are allowed on the west wing where I will be testing your skills tomorrow. As for your job…follow me."

The lord lead them through many hallways and doors. On the walls were ancient scrolls and paintings. Lining the next wall were tapestries and carvings made of intricate designs and iridescent dark colors seeming to blend all at once. The hall seemed to grow darker in color as they walked towards the inner palace. The lord stopped at a door with a wilting wreath hanging off the door. "This is Rin's room. I expect you to stay by her side whenever I'm not around. If anything harms her it will result in both your deaths regardless whose fault it is. Understood?"

Both girls nervously nodded in silence.

Sesshomaru continued regarding the fact that he sensed waves of fear radiating off both of the two girls and enjoyed it. He turned and slid the door open of the room they were facing. A girl not even older than nine came bounding out and hugged on to the lord's lower half being how short she was. Despite him being a cold person, Tsuki had to smile genuinely at the two.

The lord sighed like an annoyed father would before returning back to the matter at hand.

"Rin. These people are here to protect you when I'm not around. Rin…" Rin had stopped hugging the lord and studied the two teenage girls and her eyes trailed down to the chains on Tsuki's belt which she began wreathing it like she did the door. Sesshomaru broke the awkward moment by continuing while watching Rin and Tsuki interact. "Rin you will get to know them this evening at dinner."

Nami rolled her eyes while Rin tugged away at the chains making them full of flowers. Sesshomaru almost smiled in amusement as Tsuki was dragged away by the little girl into her room. Almost. The lord once again stopped the awkwardness and began to walk down the hall motioning to all of them to follow. Deeper towards the inner castle were a couple of rooms near next to no light that were dark, but quaint. "This will be your room." The lord had almost gone before Nami turned around realizing something. "Sir?"

The lord turned around looking on with emotionless eyes. Nami almost turned scared now knowing what Tsuki felt like when the heat was on her. "What's your honorific?"

"Lord Sesshomaru. What are your names?"

Nami looked relieved he didn't bite her head off. "I'm Nami. Kaze Nami."

Lord Sesshomaru almost did a double take when he saw Tsuki teaching Rin how to braid wreaths faster. "And your name?"

Tsuki looked up from Rin's wreaths. "Kage Tsuki."

)O(

Lord Sesshomaru sat in his study thinking of the new guard's looks. 'The humans in Japan are almost all the same with black hair and brown eyes. Some occasionally were lucky enough to get dark or lighter brown hair. But the two girls in the palace could not be humans. Red and gold eyes are most common amongst demons and demons only.

The same thing is apparent with their hair color. Humans were not special in anyway at all. They are not known for uniqueness and beauty, or intelligence. That's what separates these two from the common. They didn't run, nor did they attack when I had my hand on my sword. They preferred discussion before actually taking action. They also had weapons with them leading me to believe they are able, but not strong enough to defeat me two to one.'

The demon continues to contemplate, thinking of the possible outcomes that could arise from giving these humans a job.

)O(

Later that evening, the new recipients traveled around the palace learning of all the routes as they made their way to the dining area. Nami looked at all the old scrolls hanging from the walls and appreciated them silently.

"So…Tsuki, what's the plan?"

Tsuki continued walking forward and reached out towards one of the paintings. She sighed, "There is no plan."

Nami stopped too with wide eyes. "No plan! How are we gonna get outta here?" After an eerie silence, Nami grinned at Tsuki. Tsuki blinked curiously at her best friend, "Nami? What are you smiling at?" Nami only continued to grin as the familiar figure of the lord appeared from the opposite end of the hall.

"You like the lord, dontcha?"

Tsuki's eyes widened, "Is that why you think…The answer is no."

Nami laughed, "You lie. You lie!" Tsuki laughed also as she traced the outlines on the painting. "You know I could never like anyone like that. Even though he looks so-" Tsuki never got to finish her sentence as she spotted the lord when she turned around. "Oh."

The lord glared immensely at Tsuki as he walked past the two on his way to the dining area. Nami barely held in her laughs as he walked off. Tsuki popped Nami across her head, "That wasn't funny! I can't believe you did that. I don't think he would've hesitated to kill us if I said something I shouldn't have said."

Nami grinned, "And, what were you gonna say?"

Tsuki rolled her eyes at Nami, "Apparently, none of your business now."

"I'll find out later anyway." Nami walked into the dining area still grinning.

Tsuki despite being upset grinned also and followed her friend into the dining area.

)O(

During the meal the two girls sat silently while Rin rambled on. Once in a while she would pause for Nami's opinion on the situation. Both teens had forgotten the topic fifteen minutes ago. Nami sighed and continued to carry the conversation with an ambiguous answer, "Well, what do you think?"

Rin grinned, "I think we should give you different clothes, because you look funny. Right, Lord Sesshomaru?"

The lords brow rose at this before replying, "Only when we leave these grounds." Tsuki choked on the rice that had slipped down her throat. "We have to change clothes? Why?"

"Do not question my authority." The lord continued glaring at Tsuki when he said this. She groaned and massaged her temple. Nami looked on knowing an argument was coming on from the look on both her friend's and the lord's face. Neither one of them were the type of people who would back down from an argument. Tsuki placed her chopsticks neatly on her plate then turned towards the lord.

"But the women's clothes from your time are hard to move around in. We won't be able to do our jobs wearing clothes like that." Tsuki paused to read the lords expressions before continuing. "Besides our clothes provide equipment and access to things we need most." Nami grinned knowing the last part was a lie, but a good lie nonetheless.

The lords eyes narrowed more, "I warned you." He snapped his fingers and an ugly toad demon appeared. Nami flinched at how ugly it was. The bug eyes that seem to almost protude too far from their sockets were creepy.

Sesshomaru stood from the table. He was livid as blood seemed to seep into his eyes. He sensed the humans lies and it enraged him. "Get their weapons and go to the training room." Before the demon left he turned to regard Tsuki, "I expect you to be there."

Nami gaped at the now empty seat of the lord. "Weren't we supposed to train tomorrow? Um…?" Nami for the first time looked fearful for her friend. "Eesh. I think he's going to kick your ass now".

The older of the two began to feel nauseous at the idea of having to face the regal lord. In fact, she felt dizzy and light on her feet. The redhead saw this at once, "Tsuki! Don't pass out on me!"

Rin got up from her side of the table and waved a sad goodbye before retreating back to her room. Tsuki looked surprised at the gesture. "Hn…I may die."

)O(

Sesshomaru angrily paced his training grounds. A _human_ stood up to him and it had to be dealt with immediately. It confirmed his thoughts that these girls were human because only a human would be stupid enough to lie to him. Sesshomaru grabbed his large katana Tokojin from the wall and held it up weighing it between his fingers. The old sword had slayed many demons and despite its old age still worked just as good if not better as the day it was brandished. He had stopped pacing when a soft knock came from the door. "Come in."

)O(

As Nami and Tsuki walked down the empty halls they couldn't help but notice how much the art on the walls enhanced the gloomy mood. Tsuki sighed before running down some hallways. Nami looked incredulously confused watching her run off.

"Where are you going!"

Tsuki continued running and smirked back at Nami and shouted down the hall, "I'm going to get the gear I left in the room! Wait for me in the training room!"

"Uh…Sure." Nami knocked on the door of the training room and entered after a short reply of 'Come In'.

Sesshomaru stood now with battle armor and one large sword by his side. Nami carefully walked into the room laughing nervously. "Kage is coming shortly she just went to go grab some things."

It piqued the lords curiosity, "What things?"

"Her gear. Gloves and a bandana-" Nami had paused from the sudden noise coming from behind the door. Not long after she heard it the toad had stumbled in with weapons in his small hands. He left as quickly as possible leaving the door open knowing what was to come.

Nami almost drowned in the awkward silence before Sesshomaru had finally spoke up.

"Why were you asking her those questions concerning this Lord Sesshomaru?" Nami almost fainted at being asked such a personal question from out of the awkward silence. "Um, well, you see...when Tsukis feelings are concerned I like to tease her a lot. It's hard to rile her up and push her buttons. So…now you know."

The lord only questioned Nami further, "If that was the case, why did you suggest she liked me when you two were in the hallway."

Nami sighed, "I was joking and...I was just checking."

"Checking what?" the lord said with a cold stare.

Nami laughed nervously once more, "To see if she liked you."

The conversation was abruptly interrupted as Tsuki entered the room with her gloves and bandana on. "Did I interrupt something?"

The lord returned to glaring at Tsuki once more, "No. Pick your weapon up and prepare your stance."

Tsuki unsheathed the two large daggers and crossed them in a defensive stance. The lord pointed the sword at Nami as well. "You too."

Nami's eyes widened, "What?"

Tsuki grinned "Looks like I'm not the only one suffering now."

Nami, now with a medium sized sword in her hands, picked a defensive stance beside Tsuki.

For several seconds, it was at a stand still until the lord lunged forward at Nami. She blocked and dodged and hoped for the best as he turned towards Tsuki. The moment Tsuki took a step back the lord came forward at an amazing speed and brought his sword down on Tsuki's blades.

'He really isn't human!'

They stood struggling for power until the demon kicked her legs out from under her. Before she met the ground, the demon lord kicked her sideways so that she hit the wall opposite to them. Slowly, Tsuki got up and rolled her shoulders before rolling on the floor to dodge the flying sword that swung at her way. Nami took her sword and began an offensive stance.

The demon now turned towards Nami. As he cut into Nami's right she brought up her sword to defend. The demon then took a swift swing catching Nami on her stomach. A small scratch now lay on her freshly cut abdomen. Nami winced as her finger prodded the cut. For a small cut, it hurt badly and the more she moved the more the cut would widen and bleed. She looked up to find Tsuki fighting once again with Sesshomaru.

Tsuki finally had the upper hand when the demons blade had finally been knocked out of his hands. The demon was impressed, but would rather die before actually admitting it. Sesshomaru continued fighting with his poison claws giving him the upper hand once again. Tsuki would have to keep dodging to avoid being poisoned and if not die a slow painful death.

Every time she moved back or dodged, the demon lord would close the gap between them and aggressively attack. At this rate, she would run out of stamina and make a mistake. She was abruptly pulled out of her thoughts when she felt the hilt of her daggers being yanked out of her hands. Her eyes widened when the demon advanced on her poison claw at his side.

The demon smirked as the whites in his eyes turned completely red, "You can give up and avoid future injuries…"

Tsuki glared, "Or."

The demon had taken a vine, thorned whip which had appeared from his hand and snapped it once. "…Or suffer consequences." the demon had finished for her.

Nami ran between the two waving her hands. "Enough already." She glanced at the demon lord. "She won't back down so I'm asking you to spare her." She bowed humbly low then turned to Tsuki, "Let this one go Tsuki. Please…for me."

"Fine..." She let out a breath she was holding in and with fists trembling with fury bowed slightly. "I apologize for my actions."

The demon smirked at the two girls, "It's pathetic that you need your friend to save you."

Tsuki massaged her temple once again. "Do you like arguing with me?" The lord turned his back on both of them. "It's amusing." Both girls stood there and gaped at the lords retreating back.

He Jokes?

)O(

The girls returned to the dark bedroom they shared. It was simple, but still luxurious. Two plush large futons lay on opposite sides of the room each with a small floor desk and candle holder. On the right, there was a door leading to a bathhouse. Near the end of the room, were large cushions resting on the floor supposedly for comfort and large curtains. Nami stepped to the curtains and frowned. Why would you have curtains in the room if it had no windows? The redhead lifted the curtain and gasped. "Tsuki, come look at this!"

Tsuki was currently looking at the futon suspiciously. It looked nice, but it was still on the floor. She gave the futon one last look before going over to the curtains and pulling them halfway open. "Wow."

On the other side of the curtains, was a slide-in paper door to a balcony. A huge balcony. Nami slid the door completely back and ran out into the night.

"This balcony is bigger than our bar!" Nami ran to the railing near the edges of the balcony. "Man, that's a nasty fall."

Tsuki looked to the sky and smiled. The sky was lit by the moon's shine and the land and mountains had a soft glow, visible only to them.

The balcony stretched out far enough to reach seven rooms, including their own.

Nami had started to spy through some of the doors while the older teen walked and sat on the railing. She looked over the edge and saw how far the drop actually was.

Nami had passed two doors and waved for Tsuki to follow, "There's a door to the bathhouse and Rin's room over here." The redhead continued to walk past the door to Rin's room to a third door. She hesitantly looked at it before she pushed it open. Her eyes widened as she went inside the room. There were bookshelves three stories tall (no pun intended) that had lined up every single crook and corner. The many rows loomed over her as she walked in.

Tsuki had walked into the room and almost stumbled from not looking where she was going. The library was bigger than both of their old barracks combined. She looked to her right and saw a dim glow from around the corner. She walked towards it while keeping note of where the other girl was.

Upon reaching her destination, she found books stacked on a lounge chair and a table with a burning candle. She picked up one of the books and flipped to the first page. On the page was a record of a past war and a list of the opposing armies weak points. Tsuki was surprised when she looked closer at the page's contents noticing the enemy commander's army was Chinese, not Japanese. She was more surprised to find out that she actually recognized the names from a certain strategy game she played. The book also contained records of the officers and how many soldiers they killed with some even going as high as ten-thousand. She then looked to the bottom of the page and read the neat handwriting.

Unbeknownst to her, some one had been watching her in interest.

)O(

Nami had managed to crawl ten feet above the ground to skim through the titles of large leather-bound books. She lightly ghosted her fingers over the spines before one of the titles caught her eye. The book was two inches thick with silver engravings in a language unreadable covering the front. She let her hand hover over the spine before pulling it out. She ran her fingers over the soft black leather on the back before dropping it onto a cushion below her and continuing her book searching. Another book caught her eye that was to her left. This book had brown leather instead of black and gold engravings instead of silver. On the front it read 'Book of Heaven.' This book she also dropped on the cushion. The books looked very similar, but different languages...or translations?

She plopped down from the shelf onto a defenseless cushion and picked up the two books. While rounding a shelf she stopped to look around. The air got cold and the hairs on her neck stood. She slowly walked in Tsuki's direction, but stopped. She could have sworn she heard an echo of footsteps. She continued walking past another shelf and then quickly pivoted on her heels getting a surprising result when she was face to face with the person who had been following her.

Directly in front of her, a pair of pale purple eyes looked back into hers. The man had blue hair that reached his shoulders and long bangs that shaded half his face, but didn't hide a marking the shape of a diamond on his forehead. He wore dark blue baggy pants to hide the more important parts and bore tattoos on his chest of a blue dragon that's tail reached past his shoulder to his back.

Nami looked at the male before him in awe. All in all, he was very handsome. The face in front of hers smirked before stepping back and crossing his arms over his chest.

"You wouldn't happen to be one of those guards Lord Sesshomaru hired, would you?"

Nami furrowed her eyebrows in confusion before speaking, "Why?"

"Well," the man began, "The lord doesn't hire humans and neither would I, but I guess your race wasn't why he hired you."

Nami only glared at him when this was said, "What the hell are you talking about?"

The blue haired demon only chuckled at the redhead, "You should watch your tone some of the demons aren't as nice as me." He only grinned when Nami had rolled her eyes at him.

"I'll let you in on a secret. If the lord really wanted a guard for his little brat he would have sent a demon, not two weak humans. Also you two are female which-" The blue haired demon had not been able to finish before Nami had started walking away, books in hand. The demon looked incredulously at her retreating back. He swiftly walked up beside her and continued a one-sided conversation.

"You're a funny looking human. If you hadn't been picked up by the lord you would sell very highly in a slave ring. Pets are becoming very popular with demons."

Nami stopped walking at this. "What do you mean pets?"

The demon also stopped, eyes blinking in realization. 'She doesn't know.' He then turned to the curious girl. "Pets are a just a name we call them. Some pets are the _pleasurable_ kind," He smirked at the expression of disgust that crossed her features.

"However, you walked in here with weapons, so you can't be that. So you have to be a _blood spiller_. There happens to be a tournament coming up that the lords enter their fighters in." He could tell from the look on the girls face she was even more confused and knew his explanation would last a little longer than expected. "During this tournament the _volunteers_ fight to the death until one group is left."

Nami raised her eyebrows at the mention of this. "And…"

The demon once again continued. "And youre the volunteers."

)O(

Tsuki had long finished the first book and read through a second in the stack of books. She was half-way through when she felt a light tap at her shoulder.

"Tell me later, Nami." The figure behind her smiled. He put his hands over the girl's eyes before speaking in a baritone voice. "Guess who."

Tsuki had quickly ducked away from the man's hands and in the process tripped over the lounge chair. Before she flipped over it the man grabbed her hand and steadied her.

The man holding her had dark red eyes with orange specks in them. His black hair looked about shoulder-length and was pulled back with a tie with tufts of hair shaping his face.

He wore baggy dark red pants and had a blood colored tattoo of a wolf from his chest to his arm.

"You can let go now." Tsuki looked into the demons eyes and were captivated by them.

The demon took notice of this and developed an evil grin. "Like what you see?"

She quickly changed the subject and glanced at him before turning her attention to finding the book she dropped. "How long have you been standing there?"

The man now stood in front of her with the lost book in his hand. "I've been here long enough to know you like reading statistics on past wars. Which I'd like to add is very odd for a girl your age."

Tsuki sighed, "So…I like reading about wars. Your point?"

The demon had now smiled at the girl because of her clueless stare, "Girls your age don't read books about wars. They usually chase after suitors to raise their ranks or already have a family to tend to. Some don't even know how to read."

"Then they are ignorant fools." Tsuki looked up from the book currently in her hand at the man whose gaze watched her like a hawk. He chuckled at her reply and reached out to one of the bookshelves where a large book rested.

"Such severe judgement," he chuckled. "If you like war books I would recommend this one since the one you are currently reading is the one the lord wants no one to touch."

"Oops. Oh well." Tsuki put the book down on the stack where it belonged and took the book the demon handed to her.

The man smiled, but it was a sad one. The purple haired teen noticed and got closer to look him in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

The demon placed the books Tsuki set down moments ago in the correct order so as not to anger the lord. "It's sad what the lord is putting you through. If we had met under different circumstances we could have been friends."

Tsuki was shocked by the demons words. "What's he going to make us do exactly?"

The demon had stood in front of her and now showed a serious face. "He's going to enter you in a tournament. A gladiator's tournament."

Tsuki had held the book to her chest now and walked to another shelf. "That's why he's keeping us? A tournament? Why would he enter us though?" Thoughts swarmed in her mind of the lord watching as she got her skull smashed in.

"Lords enter people they call "pets" into the tournament in an attempt to create stronger bonds with other lords. If a lord's pets wins he would hire them for whatever job they asked for or if the lord has no need for them he will kill them and since your human I don't expect you to last long even after the tournament."

Tsuki had sat on the floor and began rubbing her temple. It made sense that they would be expected to earn their jobs, but not like this. Tsuki looked up as she heard the sound of swift steps behind her. She swiveled on her bum and looked up at the new arrival. Upon realizing who it was she quickly stood, but was once again tripped by the lounge chair. Tsuki yelped as she flipped over the chair and felt the cold marble meet her back.

Tsuki groaned from behind the chair. She had not meant to embarrass herself in front of the lord and the other demon. As she sat up, she rubbed the spot on the back of her head that connected with the floor and winced when she felt the growing knot.

The lord and demon watched as she got up slowly this time. She knew she was in trouble by the cold stare she received from the lord and the sympathetic one from the black haired demon. The lord walked forward and grabbed one of the books on top of the stack.

"Who told you, you could come in here and read this book?" he icily asked.

Tsuki walked to the floor to the book she dropped during her fall. "No one."

She picked it up nervously knowing the lord was glaring at her now. "You shouldn't put your nose where it doesn't belong."

Tsuki once again rubbed her temples in aggravation. "I wasn't aware that I'm not allowed to be here and furthermore I don't know much about the rules here so you can't expect much. I am "human" after all." Tsuki's icy reply had stunned the other demon in the room and irritated the lord.

"I won't hesitate to beat you again if you go too far." Tsuki looked angrily at the lord's back as he turned and grabbed the book from the stack and turned to talk to the other demon quietly. He handed the demon the book before walking out of view.

The demon looked behind him to make sure the lord was gone and strode over to Tsuki's side. He grinned and put the book that had been in the lord's private stack into her hands.

"While you were glaring at the lord's back, he told me to give this to you and provide you with any other book you need before escorting you to your room."

Tsuki was puzzled at the demon's statement. "Are you joking?"

The demon had grabbed a cart from a corner and chuckled as he saw her eyes widen.

"Nope."

)O(

Nami sniggered when she had found out that blue haired demon's name was Mizu. The word for water.

"What are you laughing at?" Nami struggled to keep her laughs in and eventually fell over laughing. "I'm sorry! It's just your name is so…girly!"

Mizu playfully poked the girl that was presently on the floor with his foot. "Shut up! At least my name isn't NAMI. God forbid I be named something as horrid as that!"

The redhead rolled her eyes at the males antics. "There is nothing wrong with my name. In fact I think my name suits me." Mizu snorted at her comment.

"Your name means wave and mine means water. I think it's romantic." Nami silently agreed with Mizu with an awkward nod and headed towards the entrance of the library. When she walked out the door she decided to walk out towards the ledge of the balcony. Mizu had sat on the railing beside her with his feet dangling in the air while she simply leaned on it. She began to wring her hands in anxiety at the thought of having to go into the tournament. She had found out from Mizu that the tournament was two days away and failure to compete resulted in instant death.

Mizu had thoroughly explained the methodology of the competition, but some parts continued to remain foggy. The demon told her that the lords would bring large groups and more groups than necessary most times, while others brought in very small groups, which didn't make sense to the redhead at all. If a lord wanted their team to win why did he bring small groups?

Mizu recognized the troubled expression on Nami's face and seemed to know what she was thinking.

"What part of the tournament confuses you?"

Nami sat up on the railing and held the two books she originally had on her lap before asking her question. "If lords want to win why do some have such small groups?"

"Either the lord is confident of the pets or he didn't come there to win."

Nami groaned knowing there was more to the explanation. "Why would he not come there to win?"

"Lords usually go to tournaments to make stronger bonds and hope for future alliances when they participate with other lords during the tournament and sometimes a little bloodshed may do the trick."

"Oh…damn. Lord Sesshomaru is going to bring just us two so the other lords can watch us be stabbed with joy!"

"That would be the idea." Both Mizu and Nami looked up to find two people standing near them. One was Tsuki and the other was the demon who had spoken.

Tsuki sat beside the ledge of the balcony and placed four books beside her that she collected from the library. "Kasai already told me about the tournament."

Nami sighed, "It sucks. Do you think we still have to train tomorrow?"

Tsuki grabbed her books and paused before returning to her room. "I know I am. I'm tired so I think I'll go rest." Nami nodded before muttering a 'me too'.

Kasai strode along beside Tsuki. Tsuki looked curiously in his direction. "Are you staying near by?"

Mizu was the one to speak up this time. "Actually we'll be sharing a room."

Nami frowned at this and threw an annoyed look towards Tsuki's direction. "We're getting babysitted because of you."

"Shut up and go to sleep."

)O(

Nami felt the sun on her face as she groggily woke up. She looked over to her right to find everyone already awake. Mizu was lounging on the cushions in the corner while Kasai and Tsuki sat on the other futon looking through the books picked out from last night. Nami sat up from her futon and rubbed her eyes. "How come you guys didn't wake me up?"

"We thought about it, but you stopped snoring so we didn't care anymore."

"I don't snore…" Nami replied annoyed. Mizu grinned and with a quick flip was on his feet and in Nami's face. "How do you know you don't snore if your never awake to hear it?" It was more of a statement than an answer and Nami knew he was right.

"Oh, whatever." Nami got up and stretched before walking over to the bathroom to wash her face. She groaned as her stomach growled at her. "What's for break_feast_?"

Mizu had walked into the bathroom and sat down on the floor. " You slept passed noon. It's lunch time now."

"Well, I'm hungry. Are there any kitchens?"

Mizu stood and gestered for everyone to follow him.

They were soon walking through the same halls they had been through the previous day. They made a sharp left and made their way down to what looked like servants quarters because of the loss of extravagant decorations. Instead there were slightly less extravagant decorations. Mizu had stopped in front of an oak door and called out to it.

"Anybody in here? The lord's guests are hungry."

The group backed up as the door roughly swung open. In the entrance, was a girl the same age as Tsuki and Nami. Her light blue hair reached down to her knees despite it being in a high ponytail. Her gray eyes were light and had a rim of green on the edges. She wore a loose blue shirt that hung off one of her shoulders and a silver necklace around her neck. Her pants ended above her knees and she wore black work sandals, rough from working a lot.

"Hey Mizu! The food is already done. It's on the counter, so you guys can just help yourself." She paused finally noticing the two girls. "Hello, I'm Umi. You guys are the guards, right? The lord is nicer since you guys came. I guess after he beat one of you up he relaxed. Which one did he beat up?"

A nervous laugh came from the older of the two. "That would be me."

The blue haired girl's eyes widened. "Everybody here knows about you! Jakken went and told all the help of how you didn't back down. If anybody outside the palace heard of that you'd be well respected."

Nami yawned, "I fought too…" Umi smilied, "I know, but you didn't argue with the lord. Your friend is lucky to be alive. He must like you."

Both Nami and Tsuki looked at eachother when this was said. Tsuki then walked around Umi to the other side of the door. "He doesn't like me and even if he did he has a weird way of showing it."

Nami nodded in agreement and quickly made her way in when the aroma of rice reached her nose.

)O(

The group of four made their way to their room after lunch.

Nami had thought about the two books sitting on the edge of her futon. Somehow, they were alluring to her. Before she was aware of it she had sat on the floor and flipped through the pages of the brown leather book titled 'Book of Heaven.' Her eyes skimmed one of the pages which seemed uninteresting since it described the shape of a cloud. Nami rolled her eyes as she read the details. The beautiful book on the outside looked like a very old science book on the inside. Her eyes shifted through the words until she reached the bottom. In calligraphy was an inscription for a hex. A spell to be exact.

She quickly picked up the other book and flipped to the first page. Both the pages looked identical except the language was different and the picture of the cloud was replaced with a heavily rooted tree. Nami looked around and realized it had darkened outside. What seemed like five minutes had been hours passing by. She knew it had been daylight when she flipped through the other book. She looked up at the door as it slid open.

Tsuki walked across the room and sat on her futon tired and sweaty from what she guessed was training. Mizu snored lightly from his plush spot in the cushions while Kasai had managed to look comfortable on the floor beside Tsuki. She slid the book in her hand over to the purple haired teen.

"Read that."

The purple haired teen looked curious as she picked up the book and skimmed the first page. Her eyes widened slightly as they found the bottom. "That's an incantation."

Nami crawled over to the other girls futon with her book and looked down at the page of the rose. The words seem even more complicated as the redhead looked down at them.

"You can understand it, but I can't." The elder held the other book in her hand after switching and furrowed her brows.

"Your book is different too. You can't read this book and I can't read that one."

Nami switched the books and once more flipped through the pages of "her" book. She grinned as a thought came to her.

"We should use these for the tournament!"

Tsuki blanked as a thought hit her. "Do we know how to do these?"

"Uh…no."

Tsuki rolled her eyes and stood in the center of the room with book in hand. She cracked her neck, closed her eyes, and stuck her finger in a random spot in the leather covered book. She opened the book and her eyes met the first spell on the page. As she read the spell the air grew gold and shadows quickly covered the room. The floor beneath her glowed blue before dark crystals encased her feet.

"I think you may be on to something."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

No longer with beta, just making stuff up as I go.

)O(

The sun was bright and the cherry tree's blossomed vividly, but greatly contrasted the morning's mood. Sesshomaru walked around his palace grounds narrowing his eyes at everything that seemed against his mood. He had the sudden urge to burn each and every pink blossom off the tree.

Last night, he had just been informed that the tournament was to be on his grounds and he was to expect the other lords' arrival at noon. He sent a messenger to his fighter's room meaning they had about two hours to prepare before they were expected to go into the ring. Previously, it had been agreed on that the tournament would be held in a week in the Eastern province, but had been changed to an earlier date due to the uneasiness that the portals caused in ripples over the land. He could understand why the tournament was moved to an earlier date, but as to why it had to be on his lands all of a sudden was a ridiculous notion. It was out of rotation and begged to be questioned. The lord grew suspicious as to why the tournament was moved to his lands.

The lords thoughts wandered back to the two women. The dog demon knew if they did not act fast they would be slaughtered in the ring. Even if they had put up a good fight the other day didn't mean they could win now. He had only gone easy on them. Some of the demon gladiators had been there for years and were very skilled. They were champions. The smaller, weak groups were most likely to be killed first. The gladiators would probably let the girls cut through the larger group to slow them down and when they had their backs turned would cut them down.

The lord walked towards the newly built ring. He would wait there for the others to arrive. Slowly he made his way to one of the stands that surrounded the ring. The stand was made for him and him alone while the other lords had their stands. Right in front of the stands were fences with living vines that would constrict you if you tried to escape or get too close to the outer ring. To his right there was a door where the gladiators along with the other groups would arrive. He would be able to see their shocked faces when they finally saw the ring.

Sesshomaru sat in his corner as the scent in the air shifted slightly. The first lord had finally arrived.

)O(

Tsuki had awoken an hour ago and couldn't go back to sleep. She quickly flipped through her book memorizing each and every word that she could. She quickly rose as she heard quick shuffling at the door. The door slid open to reveal a timid female demon. She had typical brown hair, but was separated from the rest with dark pink eyes.

"Lord Sesshomaru requires your presence in two hours. You are to report to the undergrounds and prepare for a tournament. From there, you will wait in cages."

The girl quickly left the way she came and slid the door closed. It was then Tsuki comprehended what was said. "WE ONLY HAVE TWO HOURS!"

Nami woke with a start as she was roughly shaken. "What do you want," she whined.

Tsuki forcefully pulled the blankets away from Nami's grabbing hands. "What did you do that for!?"

"We only have two hours!"

"Wait…WHAT!" Nami scrambled out of the bed and hurried to wake the others.

)O(

The group of four made their way to the undergrounds of the castle. The walls were dark, dank, and glistened as they walked by them. Its grungy floors reeked of decay, blood, sweat, and tears.

The aura in the undergrounds only seemed to get more disturbing as they reached their destination. Mizu and Kasai had paused in front of them and signaled towards a door ahead of them.

"This is as far as we can go, from here on you're on your own." The silent statement was from Mizu who had hugged Nami. Tsuki snorted, "You guys honestly have no faith in us do you?" Kasai grinned and poked at Mizu, teasing him, "I do."

Nami giggled, "Stop teasing him. He just wants to hug me."

Kasai and Tsuki exchanged knowing looks. "Surrrrrrre."

The group said their last goodbyes and the two demons had left.

Nami and Tsuki together opened the door hesitantly. What lie on the other side was not expected. In the huge room were four large cages, but they weren't the only ones in the room. In the cages, were humans and demons of all kinds. The humans in one cage appeared frightened and defenseless, they whispered and murmured. Some did not though. In a cage opposite theirs, were human missionaries, soldiers, and even gladiators. In the third cage, six, some grotesque, demons stood against the bars cackling at the weaker humans, further intimidating them. The last and fourth cage was empty. Their cage.

Nami jumped in the cage and quickly found out their weapons had already been placed in their cages. Nami felt a new daring as she grinned and laughed, "So much for preparing."

Tsuki stepped into the cage and shut the rusty cage door closed behind her. "I think the extra time is to make sure our head is set."

Nami sighed once again having something explained to her, "I don't get it."

Tsuki rolled her eyes, "If we are going to die than this would be the time we would use to come to terms with it." All cackling, murmuring, and whispering stopped. The demons had even stopped bothering the humans. "You know, for some one your age your pretty bright." One of the gladiators had stepped up to the bars in the cage beside theirs.

"So I've been told," Tsuki replied.

"Watch your backs." A sinister voice came from the cage directly in front of them. The demon was eyeing both the girls hungrily with bloodlust. This particular demon stood out the most from the grotesque looking demons. He wasn't grotesque looking at all. He wore deer skin pelts and matching leg warmers and arm bands. He sported heavy chest plates and armor on his upper arm. He wore his long hair in a ponytail that didn't hold his bangs back. Under his bangs was a sky blue headband that matched his eyes. He would be mistaken for a human if the furry, rugged looking ears and tail didn't show.

Nami stood up and stomped over to the bars. "Why don't you watch _your_ back, mutt!" A few hearty laughs were heard from the gladiator's cage as some of the soldiers laughed at Nami's childish retort. The wolf demon sneered at her and turned his back on her to whisper something to the other demons. They snickered while looking over to the cages where the girls resided.

Tsuki sat beside her daggers and smoothed out her tank while Nami continued to shout insults at the wolf demon. "Nami leave the wolf boy alone. I'm getting a headache."

The "boy" turned around and snorted, "Do I look like a boy to you!"

Tsuki rolled her eyes, "You definitely act like one." Nami sniggered.

"You wont laugh when we're in the ring."

Tsuki smirked. "Neither will you." she said to herself.

The room was hushed once more as the cages began moving. Nami looked down to find long arms of vines slithering around the bottoms of all the cages. They smacked the sides of the cage as it tipped over. Tsuki rubbed her backside with a disapproving look.

"Owie."

The cage suddenly came to a sudden halt and the two girls soared and smacked the other end of the cage. Nami held her head and glared at the vines that retreated to where they had come from. "Vines are mean."

The caged lurched and rattled as it began moving again. Nami looked behind her to find that two large demons had picked up their cage and put them on a cart. Tsuki and Nami exchanged a look as they saw the other cages being thrown into the cart. Nami's eyes widened, "Why didn't they throw us?"

Tsuki was currently hugging the floor when she replied. "You don't think the lord had anything to do with it do you?"

Nami and Tsuki looked at each other and shrugged.

They both realized that their final hour to prepare had passed as they finally left the undergrounds. Sharp streams of light from the blazing sun hit their eyes and the recipients of the cages were temporarily blinded. They were in the arena at last.

Tsuki's sight had come back and the sounds of roars and cheers deafened her ears. She looked towards all corners of the ring and found all of the other lords' sections. Sitting around them were supporters. Tsuki looked to her right to find what had created the roars. Sitting in large cages were large lizard demons. They banged on the cages and scratched futilely at the bars.

Nami gaped, "Oh, fuck! What the hell!"

Tsuki jumped to her feet as the door to their cage was roughly swung open. Beside them, some of the humans were being let out while one of the lizard demons had been freed from his confinements. Tsuki was violently pulled out of the cage, weapon in hand. The door was quickly closed behind her as Nami stepped up to the gate.

The demon handling the cages leered at her. "Sorry, your not allowed in yet."

Nami punched the cages with her hand and turned towards Tsuki. "Good luck!"

"Shut-up you sound like my mom!" Tsuki grinned and lifted her daggers in a defensive stance as the lizard demon lunged into the groups of the huddled humans.

Nami watched in horror as one of the women were picked up and shredded into pieces. Her remaining entrails flailed about violently as the lizard smacked his maws together. One human had rushed up to save a child that had caught the lizards attention, but was quickly tossed to the side with a crunch of bones and the lizard reared its ugly head upon the boy and began advancing menacingly on him. Quickly, the child was pulled out of the way from the demon as Tsuki hid him and ran into another crowd to hand him to a peasant man. "Damn it, that was too close!"

The demon jumped towards another crowd of humans causing ear-splitting screams from the humans trapped below it's belly and flicked out it's slimy, blue tongue, but was met halfway by Tsuki when she brought down her daggers upon it.

The demon shrieked and gurgled as it jumped back into the wall of vines. Long green arms reached out to snatch the demon from out of sight. The loud cheering and roaring had been silenced as the sickening noise of bones snapping reached their ears. The vines seemed to constrict the demon as they saw a claw reach out be quickly covered by vines. All in the arena watched in shock and disgust as the vines convulsing movements had suddenly stopped and a river of blood began to flow from in between the limbs. Out from the river of vines were shattered pieces of bones.

Nami grinned and began cheering, even if she was the only one. The demons in the cages were already unsettled that a human had managed to beat a demon so quickly and wanted to show her up. They wanted to show they were better.

)O(

Lord Sesshomaru sat in the stands with his followers, smirking down at the arena. He was worried, although he would never admit it aloud. So far, it had just been luck that got the girl by. Very dumb luck. The worst was still to come.

The dog demon heard a low chuckle to his right. One of the lords had joined him from their stands and now stood beside him. Mizu and Kasai, whom had been sitting the nearest to the lord kept their ears open while continuing to keep their eyes on the arena. The lord sat beside the cold dog demon and reached into his obi and pulled something out. It was arms length and wrapped up in mostly tattered cloth.

"I guess I lost this bet, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did." The dog demon lord took the wrapped package and placed it underneath the hilts of his sword.

"I didn't expect your pathetic human to last at all. I guessed too soon."

Sesshomaru watched as half the demons and soldiers were let out to kill another lizard after Tsuki and the remaining humans returned to their cages. It was only a few minutes before the lizard in the arena had managed to slaughter all the combatants in the ring.

Both lords watched the lizard as it was quickly shot down by darts. The beast gave a cry as it rocked forward and then fell on its side with a thud.

The other lord watched in interest as the redhead was pulled out of the cage along with the rest of the demons, humans, and remaining soldiers. The only one remaining in a cage had been Tsuki who had given a thumbs-up to the slightly younger girl.

"They certainly are odd."

)O(

Nami 'eeped' as a hand closed around her wrist and yanked her out of the cage. She slowly walked over towards the inner ring and looked back behind her only to find the wolf demon from before look fiercely in her direction. She quickly turned towards him knowing better to not turn her back on him.

A bell and a roar from the sidelines indicated that the match had begun. The demons quickly cornered the humans and wasted no time in slaying them. Nami had stayed by the same child that Tsuki had saved earlier and led him to the cages near the other girl. "Could you fit through the bars?" The boy nodded and slipped through the bars easily heading directly towards Tsuki, his other savior. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hid his face in her stomach. Tsuki gave a sympathetic look towards the boy, but quickly raised her head to look at the battle and pointed to the wolf demon.

"If it comes down to it you know what to do."

Nami grinned and waved as she ran towards the battle. "Of course!"

Once the redhead was within thirty feet of the remaining three demons, she unsheathed her sword and held it at the ready. The wolf demon was fighting the last gladiator while the grotesque looking demons turned to her and laughed. "The human girl thinks she can beat us."

Nami had enough of hearing about 'humans' and glared at the two demons before her.

"Think? I KNOW I can beat you." Nami rushed to the right as one of the demons jumped to her left. The demon was startled that she had dodged him. Another blow was aimed for her when the second demon had dashed to her left, but was thwarted when Nami had blocked the hit from under his swing and let the sword sink under his flesh.

The demon screamed and gagged as fresh blood ran from his throat down the side of his mouth. He slid off her sword with a squelch and landed lopsided on the dirt. The other demon had already joined the other in killing the gladiator thinking Nami wasn't worth his time.

Quickly she swung with her sword when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. She grinned as she found out who it was.

"They let me out, but the boy is still there. We have to win to keep him alive, okay?" Tsuki pulled her daggers out quickly as a scream rang out from the other side of the ring. The last gladiator finally dropped dead and the last demons proceeded to killing the girls, swords bloody. A moment of silence enveloped the stadium as neither parties moved. Tsuki exchanged a knowing look with Nami before grinning and rushing towards the grotesque looking demon. Nami smirked when she found the wolf demon looking skeptical at the other girl's audacity.

Nami ran forward intent on catching the wolf demon off guard. He caught her and with one blow and threw her to the side, her sword knocked out of her hands from the impact.

Tsuki caught the scene from the corner of her sight and gasped as she continued to fight the demon. "Shit, Nami! You got too cocky!"

Said girl was struggling to stand. She felt an intense pain in her left side as she rose from the ground. The sound of jeering reaching her ears as the wolf demon walked over to the location where she stood. He placed his sword above her collarbone and watched in delight as she glared at him.

Nami watched as he raised his sword and a menacing smile reached his lips. The crowd stood and booed as the wolf demon let his sword fall towards her neck. The redhead closed her eyes and waited for the worst. She clenched her fist as she waited for the strike to come.

A few seconds later and the blow hadn't come. Nami opened one eye and then the other. She looked around her and everything was quiet. The wolf demon was mid-way in attack with the same look on his face. Everything had stopped completely. The redhead carefully walked around the immobile figure and quickly spotted the other teen.

Tsuki had had her hand-raised perpendicular to her body. A dark fog covered her hand and ice once more encased her feet. Nami stumbled over to Tsuki's side and poked the raised arm. She was startled when the other teen turned to her with a spin in her direction.

"I'm not frozen you know." The fog on her hand slowly continued to grow to her wrist.

"Yeah, I see that." Nami pulled the sleeve of her fishnet up and found the incantations she earlier wrote on her arm and murmured one under her breath. The pain in her side quickly subsided and her tiredness from the morning went away. "We should give them something to be afraid of!" Nami punched the air and ran to the other side of the stadium where she was quickly joined by the other teen. She stood beside the frozen vines and focused on her finger. She smiled as a little white flame lit the tip and quickly spread to the vines. She walked away from the vines with Tsuki as the scent of the burning limbs reached her nose.

"Ready?"

Nami studied the incantations on her arm before pulling the sleeve back down again.

"Ready."

)O(

The Northern lord sat in the stands and watched the match with a bored expression. He watched as the red-haired women was thrown aside and cornered by his best friend, Kouga. He'd known the wolf demon prince since they were pups. He let his best friend participate in the tournament under one condition. They would stay in the west longer to find mates. The young lord watched closely as the other teen seemed to be muttering something under her breath while fighting with the other demon. He began to feel a strange aura coming from her and at once she disappeared along with the other girl and reappeared in the center of the arena.

The young lord at once sat up in his chair and widened his eyes in bewilderment. Flames surrounded the arena at once. Hot air licked his face as the flames rose high enough to reach the stands. Supporters quickly rose higher into the stands, but managed to maintain distance from the lord knowing the consequence.

As the flames reached Kouga he jumped back towards the center, back turned to the girls. The other demon was too late and was rapidly engulfed by white flames. Kouga watched as the other demon burned into nothingness. White ashes flowed to the sky as the flames that had killed the vines died down.

All was silent as the wolf demon walked over to the girls. He paused to hold out his hand to the girls.

The older teen looked at the hand and raised her brow. "What?"

The wolf demon gave a wily smile. "I forfeit."

Her companion jumped up and quickly ran to the stands where the Lord of the West had sat and found two lower-class demons and began to chat excitedly to them. The older teen stayed in the ring and shook the wolf prince's hand, albeit guardedly.

The young lord was at once intrigued with the outcome of the battle. He observed as the red-haired girl rambled on and on to the demon with blue hair while he just smiled. The young lord rose from his seat and walked out of the arena intent on learning the name of the cheery red-haired girl.

)O(

Tsuki walked to the edge of the ring with the wolf demon beside her. She had learned his name was Kouga and he was the prince of a wolf tribe.

Before she walked out of the ring she turned to Kouga and gestured for him to wait. She quickly ran to the cage that Nami and her had previously been in and held her hand out to the little boy inside. "It's safe now. Don't worry about the wolf boy, he's harmless."

"Okay." Tsuki almost didn't hear the boy. He walked with his head down, eyes on his feet. Tsuki put his hand on his shoulder and led him to where Kouga was waiting.

"What's your name?" Tsuki guessed that after the boys experience he would be very quiet. So she tried to get him to talk more.

"Arashi." Tsuki picked up the boy and placed him on her hip.

"Well, my name is Tsuki. Do you have a mom?" The boy shook his head no and put his head down on Tsuki's shoulder.

"I'm an orphan."

Tsuki rubbed the boys back and felt him go limp in her arms as he fell asleep. Kouga smirked from the sidelines.

"Hi…mom." Tsuki snorted and walked out the stadium with the boy in her arms.

"So…Tsuki. Are you going to attend the party?"

"What's it for?" Kouga put an arm around the teen and his posture became cocky.

"Your victory of course! It's a tradition to celebrate the winner's victory."

Tsuki looked at the hand on her shoulder and then at the small boy in her arms. "If I'm wanted, of course." She gestured with her eyes to the dog demon lord.

Kouga grinned and lowered his lips to her ear. "To me, you are."

Tsuki had stopped walking as she felt a light pressure on her back and watched as the wolf demon laughed as he walked away.

"Did he just…"

)O(

Lord Sesshomaru was beyond furious. The girls had managed to lie to him and he hadn't detected it. They had abilities like demons and for that brief moment they had used their powers, the ki around them felt like demons.

Nami chatted with his servants while the other carried the boy and headed towards him. He only glared as she sat nearby him with the child in her lap. He recollected the older teen interacting with the wolf prince and saw what he did. The thought of him with her made him scowl.

"You look like you're furious at us. It just happened, you know."

"We will continue the conversation later." Sesshomaru looked down and finally gave notice that a human peasant boy was near him. "You will dispose of him."

"If I can't have him near, then I'll leave."

Lord Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes more and replied in an icy tone. "Your very welcome to do so."

Tsuki got up with a snort and was about to leave, but was surprised when she felt a tug on her hand. She looked down to find Rin with a bouquet of flowers in her hand holding them out to the now awake and shaking boy.

"It's okay, Arashi. She's being nice." The boy gave a silent nod and accepted the flowers and felt a blush form on his face as he looked down at the sweet little girl. Rin smiled and blushed and quickly spun around to face Sesshomaru.

"Can he please stay Lord Sesshomaru? I promise I'll never throw anything at Jakken ever again!" Lord Sesshomaru's face was emotionless as he listened to the child ramble on of meaningless promises. He found fate seemed to favor mostly Rin's ways.

"He can stay, under a few…conditions." Tsuki's eyes widened as she heard the Lord give in to Rin's wishes.

"What are they?"

"He must be educated. You alone have to watch him. Rin must actually leave the toad alone…" Tsuki actually had to grin at that despite the situation.

"…and you must attend the party."

"The party…why?" Tsuki had thought of the consequences of going. There were going to be only four humans there, including Rin and Arashi, in a room full of demons. She thought back to the wolf demon's words and dreaded what was to come.

Lord Sesshomaru rose without answering. Before he left he reached out and roughly grabbed Tsuki's arm and pulled her so that when he tilted his chin down she would be the only one to hear him.

"Stay away from the wolf prince. Is that understood?" Tsuki quickly answered as she felt the pressure on her arm tighten immensely and her arm go numb.

"Okay."

"Answer me directly." Tsuki felt Arashi slip through her hands, as her numb arm was no longer able to hold him.

"Yes, I understand." Tsuki felt the blood rush into her arm and a prickly sensation where a bruise began forming.

"Good." And with that he walked away leaving Rin and the others watch in curiosity as he disappeared from their sight.

)O(

Tsuki stared at the ceiling for hours in her room while she lay down on her futon. Arashi rest quietly beside her, never speaking and holding on to her hand like a lifeline. She had been unsure of why the lord ordered some of the things he said. Especially the last one.

The orders to not even go near the demon. She planned on not coming near him, but now she had a reason to stay away from him.

Why would he even care! This thought led Tsuki into a confused state and only seemed to anger her. The lord also had no right over the people she couldn't speak to.

"Arashi? I need for you to stay with Nami and the guys. I have to take care of something." Arashi let go of her hand and sat in the corner beside the door to the bathhouse. Tsuki sighed and picked the boy up and led him over to Kasai.

"This is my friend, Kasai. He's nice and I trust him." Once Arashi was let down he backed away from the two demons and hid under the covers from Tsuki's futon.

Kasai stood and walked over to the futon. "You know…if you stay under there you're going to miss Mizu and I playing a game. We were going to pick up Rin also so…" Kasai smiled as the boy's head popped out from under the covers at the mention of Rin's name.

Tsuki mouthed a silent thank you to Kasai. Nami had stood from her futon and walked over to Tsuki.

"Where are you going?" Nami saw a look of anger flash across Tsuki's face as she reached the door to the balcony.

"I need to ask Sesshomaru something."

Both demons in the corner looked up as she said that. Mizu was the first to mention why.

"Don't let the lord hear you speak his name like that! One time I let it slip and later that week got punished for it."

"I don't give a...I just don't care right now."

Nami followed the angry teen all the way to the library and stopped when Tsuki had reached the center of the library. There, in all his coldness, stood the demon they had sought out. He had been waiting for them.

Tsuki glared at him and spoke with a low voice. "Why are you trying to control me? I'm not your freaking lap dog, I'm not one of your servants, and you have no say in what I do as far as who I talk to."

Sesshomaru had held back so his claws would not drip with poison claws when he spat back.

"You pathetic humans should not even be alive. Or have you forgotten your debt to me?"

Tsuki clenched her hand in a fist by her side as a dark fog circled her feet. "I didn't forget. Still, it doesn't give you the right to forbid me from people."

"While you stay here you will do as I say whether you like it or not. I believe you lost the right to do as you please when you failed to tell me the extent of your abilities."

He had been in front of Nami in a second and she gasped as he looked down on her. "Wouldn't you agree?"

When the girl failed to answer a loud smack rang across the room. The redhead's eyes had widened to the full extent as she faced the direction of the blow before meeting the floor. Tsuki ran to her friend's side and examined the now red face. She stood and faced the now smirking demon more infuriated then ever.

"She didn't deserve that! What is wrong with you!" The still smirking demon had once again dashed, this time in front of Tsuki. He snatched Tsuki's arm into his hand and watched her struggle as he let a few drops of poison touch her skin.

Tsuki grit her teeth as the acid ate up her arm. The demon had quickly cornered her into a wall and clasped her neck with his other hand. He now grinned as he watched her eyes flutter close from loss of breath.

Tsuki began to see darkness from the corner of her vision take over and her body losing its adrenaline.

Sesshomaru abruptly let her go all at once and was pleased when he saw the older teen gasping for breath painfully. He reached to his side and dropped the package he received earlier and dropped it in front of the girl's feet. Both Nami and Tsuki looked at the package suspiciously before looking back over to the lord.

Tsuki had at once stood straight when the lord took a step back and managed to still have enough energy to continue glaring at the lord. He took a step forward and stood in front of the older teen.

"By the way, I always know when my honorific is not used, and everyone is subjected to some type of punishment."

Tsuki closed her eyes expecting the lord to strike her face like he had Nami. She was surprised to feel something soft on her lips instead. She opened her eyes to find gold eyes directly in front of her. The lord pulled away and before she could scream at him for being a bi-polar psycho, he had already left the room.

Tsuki let out the breath she was holding and immediately dropped to the floor.

Nami crawled over to her and found the girls burnt arm. Upon inspecting it she found that it could be easily healed and spoke a quick incantation. The wrinkled skin immediately smoothed out into a new layer of skin as the old one fell to the ground. The bruises from earlier and now quickly disappeared and Tsuki's breath had completely evened out.

Nami sat silently beside Tsuki and poked the stiff object in front of them, not trusting it completely.

"You really need to learn to shut your mouth. I'm never going anywhere with you again. You should've seen your face when he kissed you! I'm hungry."

"Shut-up Nami. I just received the worst beating and punishment in my life."

)O(

The girls had returned to their room an hour later feeling emotionally drained and carrying the heavy wrapped package. Nami let the end of the package she had been holding drop on her futon while Tsuki placed her end on the floor.

Kasai, Mizu, Rin, and Arashi had walked or ran in Rin's case over to find out what the girl's had brought in. Mizu watched as Nami flopped on the futon and noticed the new tint of her face.

"What happened?"

"Uh…" Nami sat up and winced as she rubbed the abused cheek. "I got smacked for not being quick enough."

Mizu rolled his eyes, "That's what happened when I didn't use his honorific."

"But I didn't do anything!" Tsuki crawled to Nami and chanted the healing spell from her book. Nami rubbed her face once more and felt the pain go away as she did.

"Actually, it was my fault." Everyone in the room looked towards Tsuki for an explanation. The teen gave a nervous laugh and wringed her hands.

"I sorta went off on him and he popped up in front of Nami and hit her. Then, I was livid and he poisoned me and dropped this in front of us."

Nami punched the air and growled. "Not only that! He almost choked her to death and then as punishment KISSED her! You better wash your mouth now before you catch AIDS!"

Tsuki's mouth dropped and she tossed a cushion at Nami's face.

Nami grinned and laughed loudly, "Or is it the other way around!"

Kasai and Mizu exchanged a look and with confused looks asked the same question.

"What's an aid?"

Tsuki glared with a growl, "Don't worry about it." She reached out to the package and pulled the string that held it shut. The occupants of the room gasped at what had been inside.

In addition to the beautiful garments that lay there were was a new large sword and a set of daggers. Nami reached in and grabbed the red outfit and smirked at Tsuki. "You should kiss him more often!" Hearing Tsuki growl, she quickly hushed.

She first looked at the hilt of the sword and found a dragon's head and on the blade an engraving. Then, she looked at the dress. The clothing in her hands felt silky to the touch and was beautiful. It was a dark red yukata that was short and hung off the shoulders. The short dress was embroidered with a black dragon's head located at the right shoulder with a claw resting on the left shoulder and another claw appearing down the right sleeve. On the back of the yukata the dragon's body spiraled down with its tail wrapping around the bottom. In the package a golden spiral bracelet of a dragon lay where the dress had been a few moments ago.

Nami hugged the garments to her body and squealed, "This is great!"

Tsuki looked at the dress in Nami's hands and was impressed. Surprisingly, the lord had good taste.

She reached in and grabbed the black outfit that had been under the daggers and gasped at the designs on it. She quickly dropped it and shut herself in the bathroom to take Nami's advice and began to vigorously wash her mouth.

Nami was puzzled at the older teen's sudden choice of action and looked at the outfit and the dagger on the floor. It was just as beautiful as hers, but very different. The dagger had a moon on each and the engravings on it as well. The silk on the garment was black with light purple embroidering. The top was a tie back with long ribbons so when she wore it the ribbons would go down her back. Hanging off the shoulders were sleeves that would reach past her fingertips. The bottom was a long skirt with a large slit up the side. Nami looked at the pretty embroidery on the skirt. The first part of the embroidery on the skirt looked like two wispy ends of a ghost coiled together, flowers following the trails. The second part continued on the top and was where the wispiness ended. From out of the ends two canine figures were intertwined. One was a dog and the other was a fox.

"Sick…" Nami was quickly silenced as both Kasai and Mizu reached out to close her mouth.

Mizu almost lost it when something wet and slimy assaulted his fingers.

"Did you just lick me?" Mizu incredulously looked at his hand than Nami who had been laughing like a mad fool.

Tsuki had walked out of the bathroom, Arashi in tow. "Did I miss something?"

Kasai had grabbed the still stunned Mizu from off the floor and pushed him out the door while he still stared back at Nami.

"We have to make sure everything for the party is in check. I guess we'll see you after the party."

"Yeah, I guess." Tsuki picked up the garments and felt like throwing them across the room, but restrained herself. She plopped down on her futon and banged her head against the wall.

Nami had dug deeper in the package and tossed what lie at the bottom to the girl across the room. The older teen caught it and upon inspecting it groaned and tossed it beside the garment. It was a silver necklace with a moon charm the exact shape and size as the lord's moon that rested on his forehead.

Nami tried on her outfit and was happy to find it matched perfectly with her knee-high boots. She slipped the dragon bracelet on and admired it.

"Cheer up Tsuki. Just be glad he didn't send you to the undergrounds."

"Yeah, I know." The older teen sighed on the floor beside Arashi and began blowing strands of hair from out her face. Nami found it amusing when both Rin and Arashi began imitating her. She watched the young boy and something came over her.

"Arashi doesn't have an outfit! Where the heck are we gonna find one? Rin doesn't need one, but he definitely does!" Nami looked down at the dirt stained clothes covering the boy.

Tsuki got up from her spot on the floor and picked up the 'quiet storm' as she'd come to know him as she walked to the door.

Nami stood beside Rin and found the girl already wore a light green kimono decorated with bright orange flowers reaching down to the girl's ankles. Her hair was done up with one orange flower pin holding it.

"Your going to ask the lord, aren't you?"

"Yep."

"I'm staying!" She held out her fingers in a cross and pretended to shrink back as she said this. Tsuki actually laughed when the girl jumped in the bathroom and mock peeked out the door.

"Oh, whatever."

)O(

Tsuki had walked along the many twists and turns and had at last reached the lord's door. She looked down to the trembling little boy in her arms and gave him a reassuring smile before taking a deep breath and knocking on the door.

)O(

Nami and Rin sat in the still room waiting for the other two to return. Nami had stood and began pacing around the room after she finished preparing the party, Rin following her with her eyes. She didn't want to admit it, but she was willing to forget the lord's actions if he kept giving her pretty things. She smiled at the thought. When she looked at her reflection in the bathhouse, she was startled by the image that looked back at her. She appeared like a completely different person with her hair done up and the way the outfit seemed to make her look other-worldly. Where she was from, they couldn't afford luxuries such as this.

Both girls had been startled when a knock had come from the door. The door slid back revealing two servant girls.

Nami looked at them and noticed their odd clothes. Both had black hair and onyx eyes. They wore long dark green yukatas that complemented each other and matching fans in their hands.

"Preparations have been made for you to escort our lord."

Nami crossed her arms around her chest. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Our lord requested that you would be his escort. The lord of this castle granted him."

"Why wasn't I informed of this!"

Both servants had left leaving the redhead to ponder. Follow them or refuse? Nami had led Rin to her room and quickly found Jakken, the toad demon, to look after her.

She ran to catch up to the girls that had just disappeared down the long corridor. She had caught up finally and silently walked with them. The girls ahead of her walked straight and had their noses in the air. They stopped and simultaneously called out to a door on Nami's left.

"Lord Katsu, your guest is here."

The girls slid the door open to let Nami in then at once shut the door behind her. The redhead looked around her. It was barely seeable due to the time and Nami wondered when the party would actually begin. As she pondered her thoughts, someone stepped towards her.

Seeing movement in the shadows, the girl made a swift turn to her right and found the figure of a man. Half covered in shadows she was only able to see part of his face. He once more moved towards her so that his face was no longer covered by shadows.

Nami quietly just the door behind her found found her self gazing at the streak of red. The man standing by a desk was kneeling down on a cushion beside a desk. He stood up and bowed graciously.

"Mr- Lord Katsu. I'm not accustomed to demon culture, so I think I'll just go to the party." She looked over the mans shoulder at a rolled up scroll on the desk.

"I'm not Lord Katsu."


	3. Chapter 3

Chappo 3

Sesshomaru rested in his chamber after the two teens had confronted him. The manner those two argued irritated him to no end. Tsuki would always begin it and Nami would be the one to pick up the pieces.

He lied down on his bed and stretched out relieving some of the tension around his shoulders. He looked over to his left. He sensed the older teen approaching the door to his room.

The last confrontation with her just confirmed how much she detested being told what to do. The dog demon discerned that she didn't like the wolf prince and knew if he told her to stay away she would feel confined. She was just too easy to read. Because of that, she would play a vital part in his plans.

He smirked as he heard a knock coming from behind his door.

)O(

Tsuki felt Arashi grip her hand tightly when she knocked on the door.

"Come in."

She pushed the door open to find the lord lounging on his bed and carefully put Arashi down, but never felt him release her hand.

"Arashi needs new clothing. It wouldn't be befitting for acquaintances of a lord to be seen like this. Is there any way you can arrange that?"

Sesshomaru arose from his place on his bed and motioned to a room on their left. Tsuki slid the door open and her eyes widened. The room was full of boxes to the ceiling.

"How much stuff do you have?"

He paid no mind to the comment and pointed to a box in the corner before going back to lying on the bed.

Tsuki coughed as she blew the dust off the box. She smiled as she saw Arashi cutely scrunch his nose in dislike. She carried the box out to the light outside the room and opened it. Sesshomaru watched in interest as she kneeled on the floor and pulled out one of his old garments from when he was young. He remembered the one she was currently holding was his favorite one before he grew out of it…like 250 years ago.

Arashi now held the outfit in his hand and gave an approving nod. Tsuki stood and brushed the dust off her vest while looking towards the lord. "This will do, thanks."

"You didn't use my honorific."

"W-what?" Tsuki picked up the box and carried it back into the storage room.

The lord once more left his place on the bed and took a small box from out his sleeve. He walked towards the girl as she closed the storage room door and pressed it into the palm of one of her hands.

"You have never used my honorific. I have found you are very stubborn, quick-tempered, and determined to have your way so I want you to have that. "

Tsuki opened the box and picked up the jewelry inside. It was a ring with a blood red garnet in it.

"Why are you giving this to me?" She didn't mean to ask in a raspy voice.

"Come closer."

Tsuki hesitated at first, but then took a couple of small steps forward. She watched curiously as he leaned in closer to her ear and almost shuddered as she felt his breath on her neck. The hairs on her neck began to stand as he whispered into her ear.

When he pulled away, Tsuki stood stunned, but was quickly pulled out of it when she felt a small tug on her hand. She looked down to find Arashi looking up at her with questioning eyes. Noticing the worried look on his face, she picked him and the garment up and quickly walked out of the room without giving a look back.

The words that the demon had said still hung in the air and even alarmed her.

_The ring is a rite of passage between two beings. It signifies when one chooses a mate. _

In her pocket, Tsuki felt the box that kept the ring rub against her leg as she walked back to her room. It had taken all her control to restrain herself from taking the box and throwing it against one of the marble walls in the palace. She couldn't understand the demon lord's intentions. Reason's for entering Nami and herself in a tournament and then giving them gifts made no sense. She was entirely sure she was unaware of demon customs, but this was beyond bizarre.

As she opened the door to her own room she looked down at the garment resting on her futon. Tsuki couldn't put her finger on it, but she felt as if the outfit was missing something. She looked at her boots then the nice garments. She groaned as she realized she would have to be barefooted to the party since the boots would not match. And there was definitely no way in hell she would go back into Sesshomaru's room to ask if he had any extra sandals lying around.

At the thought of the lord, the hairs on her neck stood and the air got cold. She was too busy to notice the fearful look in Arashi's eyes as he backed up into a wall in front of her. Tsuki looked up and found his gaze watching something directly behind her.

Tsuki yelped and kicked as she was roughly pulled away from the futon by her arms. She struggled when she was forcefully turned around and looked up at her assailant's face. Her struggling came to a halt and she stared in disbelief as the familiar face smirked.

He was easily more than six feet and his long black hair was tied back with the long bangs hanging out. His feet adorned large leather boots and black pants hung from his hips. Long black leather belts hung close and covered a loosely hung black kimono.

"_Kouga._"

)O(

Nami rushed up and inspected the man before her. Holding his arms up as if to feel out what was underneath.

Spiky, short red hair hung near his face while the longer pieces where held back. He wore a golden kimono with red triangles dotting the shoulders, but without the white layer normally found underneath, so it was open revealing his chest for all to see. On his neck, a silver charm hung of a snarling dragon.

"Who are you?" she asked cautiously.

The man scratched his head before returning the gesture. "I'm part of Lord Katsu's tributary." He laughed nervously as a blush crept onto his face. Nami let go of the man as a thought came to her.

"You're not a lord, so what are you doing here?"

He grinned impishly as he spoke. "I was just looking for some of the lord's documents that he wanted me to present to Lord Sesshomaru tomorrow."

"Wow. Important, huh? I'm sure you'll be in trouble if your lord finds you here, though. I can tell you shirked your duties." The demon looked pointedly at her.

"We have to leave quickly before the lord comes in!"

Nami quickly pushed the red-haired man into a closet as the sounds of footsteps down the hall reached their ears.

He whined as he scrunched up against one of the walls.

"Shut-up!"

She shut the closet door as the door to the room slid open. Nami looked at the man and couldn't help but stare at him. The man in the doorway had long gold hair and wore it down. He sported a regal looking outfit much like Sesshomaru's except his was black and a print of tree branches spread towards the bottom of his pants and on the sleeves. His gold eyes seemed to look right through her and on his head two gold ears pointed to the sky.

"You are Nami, are you not?"

The man approached her but kept an arm's length distance away from her.

"Yes, why."

"I was very impressed with your victory. It was the first time I've ever seen my best friend forfeit a match. Of course, he would never continue a fight if it meant jeopardizing his good looks or chances of fighting a mate. Anyways…"

Nami watched him carefully as he took a large step forward so that he stood in front of her.

"I'd be honored if you came with me to this event." He stated casually.

Nami looked at him incredulously, "_Really._ You mean you…me, together? Wow, you cut right to the quick, dontcha?"

Within the closet, the man who was currently in another uncomfortable position rolled his eyes and sniggered.

Nami took a step back and gave an uneasy laugh. She began fiddling with the hem of her dress and was stopped when her back hit the door of the closet.

"I guess…I mean, sure." Nami quickly replied and soon found herself linking arms with the demon. Realizing the demon still remained anonymous, she squeezed his hand to get his attention.

"What's your name?"

"I am the Lord of the North. My supporters are only allowed to call me Lord Katsu, but you may call me Katsu."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

Nami knowing the man was becoming restless in the closet guided the demon out the door and down the hall to the party giving him the chance to get out.

The hot-tempered redhead stumbled out of the closet and grumbled as he rose from the floor. He mocked imitated the lord and Nami as he straightened out his clothes and left the room to find the documents.

)O(

"What are _you _doing here?"

Tsuki carefully took a step back and picked up Arashi who currently had his back to the wall. Kouga frowned as the boy wrapped his arms around her neck as she hugged him close. He began to feel a jealous pang in is chest.

"Well, I figured I would escort you to this thing. And, who is that?"

Arashi hid his face in the crook of Tsuki's neck as he was being mentioned. Tsuki sighed and rubbed the boy's back.

"This is Arashi. The boy I found in the ring, remember?" At the expression Kouga gave the boy, she sighed.

"He's an orphan and I'm going to adopt him so you better not even think of getting rid of him."

The door to the room was quickly swung open and a familiar raven-head walked in.

"Hey, Kasai!"

Kasai clapped a hand on Tsuki's back and ran over to the corner full of cushions. Tsuki laughed as he did a belly flop in the cushions but bounced back to smack the floor.

"Kasai, can you do me a favor?"

Tsuki walked over to Kasai and kneeled down so that Arashi was at eye-length with her.

"Sure."

"I need you to fix up Arashi while I change."

Kasai held out his hand to the boy and watched as he faltered to take it. "It's okay I'm not going to hurt you. And I promise that big meanie over there won't come near us."

The raven haired man laughed as the boy practically jumped in his arms and held on to dear life.

"Uncle Kasai to the rescue!"

Tsuki rubbed the boys back and promised him she'd be back before rushing to the bathroom to go change.

As she disappeared behind the door to the bathhouse the two men exchanged narrowed gazes.

)O(

Nami stood arm to arm with the lord as they finally reached the party. The entrance was laid out with gold and flowers while large paper lamps hung from the ceiling and reflected light all over the room. In front of the entrance, a short flight of stairs descended down into a large gathering floor. In the center of the room, long table rested with more than 200 chairs. Around the table were many noble looking demons, demonesses, dancers, performers, musicians, and banner holders scattered about the large hall. Nami giggled as she found a very uncomfortable Lord Sesshomaru in the center of a circle of beautiful demonesses swooning over him.

"What is so amusing?" The lord beside her had heard the small giggle from the girl and became very curious.

"Oh, nothing. I was just watching some of the drunken demons."

"You find that amusing?"

"Wouldn't you laugh if I fell over drunk? Not that I would, but what if?"

The lord had thought about her answer and began chuckling at the thought. "I guess I would." He smiled at her and looked her over as he did, appreciating her looks. The girl was slim and the yukata hugged her petite waist closely. Her hair was sprawled against her shoulders and he could see her garnet colored eyes peering at something curiously in front of them.

As they reached the bottom step, Nami watched as two girls rushed up in front of them preventing them from moving.

Katsu raised his brow at the two girls standing before him. The girl on the left had long wavy dark blue hair with black roses behind both her ears. She wore a dark blue yukata that had a blood red sash holding it. Her bright blue eyes had shown through the tufts of hair that were in front of the roses. She looked very vampire-like with her dark hair and pale skin. Her accomplice was a couple of inches shorter than her. She sported a white yukata that had beautiful embroidery of pink tigers. She wore her azalea pink hair in a semi bun with half of it up and the rest cascading down her back. Sakura flowers were stunningly wrapped around her bun and her eyes were a light, ocean green.

Nami felt her left eye twitch as the girl with dark blue hair flirtingly linked her arm with the other lord's arm.

"Hello, Lord Katsu. The Northern lands must be cold in the absence of your presence." She purred.

Nami quietly let out an exasperated breath and was tempted to smack the girl for obviously not seeing her linked to the other man's arm.

_She's all over him! _The girl laid her head on the lord's shoulder, but stopped as she realized the look she was receiving from Nami.

"Who are you?"

Nami growled as she heard the rude tone from the girl.

"I happen to be his date."

"So you're not his mate….good." She returned her focus back to the lord as she gave him more compliments.

Just when Nami felt she would be sick the dark haired girl motioned for the pink-haired girl to come closer. The timid girl stood in front of her friend and a coy smile reached her face as she looked at the lord.

"I'm Tora. I come from a noble tiger family in the northern lands, Milord." The timid girl looked down at her feet as she finished speaking.

Nami had to admit that the girl seemed nice at first glance, but there was something off about her. The girl currently latched on to Katsu had finally noticed the look on Nami's face and with a roll of her eyes introduced herself.

"I'm Kuma and I am the princess of the only noble bear family." She quickly turned to the other girl beside Katsu.

"And, where are you from, _human_?"

Nami clenched her fist and glared as she spat back. "None of your damn business!"

The dark haired girl smirked and twirled one of her wavy locks in between her fingers.

"Nobody likes a girl with a bad temper."

The red head smiled and felt her anger go away as the next words left her mouth.

"Nobody? I wouldn't say _nobody_." She eyed the lord approvingly and he grinned back, unhooking his arm from Kuma's.

Katsu quickly guided the fired up girl away before any other words could be exchanged.

Nami cracked her knuckles and took a deep breath as Katsu watched amused.

"You really come from the fiery place, don't you?"

The scowl on Nami's face disappeared and she began laughing at the stupidity of the situation.

"Nah, not really, but I can hold my own against silly bitches."

"Oh really. We'll just have to find out." Nami laughed as the lord pretended to punch her.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well…" Katsu grinned and with a purr playfully shoved the redheaded teen.

"It means we should spar sometime. Together." Nami's eyes widened in realization and at the thought of fighting again she beamed from ear to ear.

"Of course, but you do realize that you just called yourself a silly bitch."

)O(

Tsuki had finally found her way to the party and was startled by the extent of lavish decorations. Things like this didn't exist in the world she was from, unless you were part of the one percent. Despite the bloodthirsty demons, she found she hadn't really missed the home she came from. There, beer was easier to find than food.

She looked down and realized how many other people were going to be there. Her heart caught in her throat and her stomach churned. She was pulled back into reality when the hand holding hers had tightened a little. She looked down and found the usually timid Arashi smiling at her and tugging her forward.

She laughed realizing how she and the boy's roles switched as soon as the other became afraid.

Arashi once more pulled on her hand and he smiled as he led her down the stairs. Her feelings of reassurance went away when she felt the arm of the wolf prince wrap around hers as she was led down.

"Really, Kouga?"

The wolf prince, whose mouth was set in a straight line, looked out towards the waves of demons in the room and found golden eyes narrowed at him.

"Absolutely. I still want to figure out how you got the drop on me. Also, why dog-breath over there is staring me down."

He motioned towards Sesshomaru who was among another lord and what seemed to be a performer. Tsuki felt her ears heat up and she gulped. She tried unhooking both their arms, but it was useless as the wolf prince's arm became immovable and unyielding.

Three female demons, from a group of five, stood on the foot of the stairs and looked up in disgust at the humans. The two males from the group watched as the three girls they had been trying to court glared at something above them.

The oldest demon was a male a little over six feet with gold hair reaching just past his shoulder and wise, emerald green eyes. He was clad in a simple buttoned shirt and warrior's trousers. A long and slim sword with his family crest hung from his waist and sturdy boots clung to his feet. Chains of silver attached the sheath of the sword to the crest.

The younger brother of the older male had his platinum hair tied back in a low ponytail revealing the same hue of green eyes his older brother had. Almost hanging of his shoulders was a tan leather vest and below matching trousers and boots. A heavy sword was suspended at his side also containing the family crest his brother had.

Standing beside him was one of the girls that looked up at Tsuki with loathing. All of her thick, spiky silver hair was pulled back tightly into a ponytail so that the ends stuck out in all directions. Her skin was a pale color and was easily contrasted by her onyx eyes and the purple stripes on her face.

The younger brother frowned as the other two girls left leaving the silver haired girl still staring in hate. With her red lips set in a thin line she went towards Tsuki.

Tsuki had reached the bottom of the stairs when she felt a hand roughly clasp her shoulders and turn her around. She glared back at black eyes and began to feel a new rage as soon as the other girl's voice reached her ears.

"A human has no place at an event like this. A prince like Kouga doesn't need the unworthy hanging around him."

The girl forcefully pushed Tsuki away and smirked as the boy that had been so brave before hid behind the purple haired teen.

"Did you just…? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Tsuki heard a low whistle and looked over at Kouga who was sporting an ear splitting grin.

"You're on your own, babe." She glared at his retreating back as she watched him join a tall blond demon with…Nami? She quickly snapped her head back towards the direction of a growl.

"See? He wanted _nothing_ to do with you. I bet you begged him to escort you. How lowly."

The older brother watched in interest as Tsuki held her own while the other girl continued to talk to her with hostility. His younger brother lightly hit his shoulder and laughed as he kept his eyes on both of the girls. A slightly harder smack on the shoulder had gotten the elders attention and he looked to his younger brother, eyes filled with mirth as he spoke.

"Isn't that the girl from the ring this afternoon? I believe that's who I'm looking for."

A smile quickly found its way on the younger brother's face.

"It is indeed. However, she looks nothing like she did before."

They both returned their attention back on the two girls arguing.

The girl pushed Tsuki once more and laughed as an incredulous look reached the other girl's face.

"Are you too weak to defend yourself?" She cackled.

Tsuki retorted quickly, "Either you're an imbecile or you weren't anywhere near the ring this afternoon."

The other girl growled viciously, "Your nothing but a stupid, vile hu-"

A loud clap silenced the room and everyone caught the moment the other girl hit the floor.

Tsuki stood with her arms still raised in a fist. Her anger had gotten the better of her and the realization of what she did sank in quickly. Her arms fell by her side and anxiety took over as she saw Sesshomaru quickly made his way towards the foot of the stairs. From the edge of her eyesight she saw Nami and the lord she escorted.

Tsuki looked away from the lord as she felt his intense gaze on her.

"What happened, Tsuki?"

The girl on the floor quickly scurried to Sesshomaru's side and wrapped a hand around one of his arms.

"She attacked me!"

Sesshomaru's gaze hardened and poison began to show on the tip of his sharp claws.

"Is that true?"

Tsuki felt her heart in her throat as she answered.

"Yes, it is."

Sesshomaru walked up to the purple haired teen and glared at the other girl still attached to his arm. She let go with a look of disappointment, but smirked as she saw the look of anger on the Western lord's face. It quickly faded as the blonde man she was had been previously talking too stepped out from the crowd.

"Lord Sesshomaru, if I may have permission to speak."

Sesshomaru looked over the man and glared not recognizing him from one of the noble families on his land.

"Granted, but your name first."

"My name is Captain Kei Iksun. You do not know me because I am not from this country. Jin the Lord of the East invited me here for my services. As for the argument, it was not entirely Tsuki's fault. Ayame provoked her by saying she wasn't worthy. To be honest, I would punch her too."

Sesshomaru walked up to Ayame, raised his arm, and backhanded her.

"Get your things and leave immediately. As for the rest of you, anyone caught trying to harm Ayame any further will be punished immediately."

The western lord turned his back on Tsuki and swiftly walked out to the vast balcony.

Tsuki stood there with a dazed look in her eyes as Nami rushed to her side.

"Who's that guy? He's just as cute as Kouga and Sess…and he's not a b-!" Nami quickly covered her mouth now fully aware of how sensitive demon's ears are.

Nami excitedly looked to and fro between the captain and Tsuki. Said girl finally snapped out of her daze as Arashi who had been behind her hugged her waist. He had a faint smile on his face as he buried his nose in her belly.

"Excuse me." Tsuki found the kind face of the captain in front of hers.

"Yes?"

The blonde smiled and took a parchment from out his shirt and placed it in Tsuki's hands.

"You can read it later. Tsuki, right?"

"Yea, it's Tsuki Kage. Thanks for saying something."

"You're welcome." The captain made a slight bow with his head, waved off, and walked back to where his brother stood.

Nami looked around and shooed off all the people that were still staring. As she did this, she noticed the absence of the lords.

"Wait, where did Katsu go?"

Nami found that neither of the lords was in sight. "Did he follow Sesshomaru?"

"I think so…"

Both girls rushed out onto the balcony and found a light coming from underneath them. They looked down and heard the barely audible voices coming from an open window beneath them.

)O(

"Who do you think took them?" Lord Katsu was lounging on a cushion in front of a large floor desk covered with scrolls and pens.

Lord Sesshomaru was scanning the area behind the desk for any signs of disturbance. "If I had any guess it would have to be the Eastern lord. We were negotiating the terms of the treaty, but he didn't seem to completely agree with them."

"I see." Katsu was aware of political tiffs between the West and East lately, but no one outside the lands was absolutely sure what was going on.

"And, what were the terms?" Katsu was looking down at the desk when he noticed a strand of red hair. He reached over and grabbed it, inspecting it closely.

"Lord Jin hopes to take hold of my lands by marrying me to one of his daughters. Since I'm the only heir he hopes that something _unfortunate_ will happen to me once she and I were to yield offspring allowing him to rule both lands and split the North from the South."

Katsu stiffened while he listened. The North had prospered due to the Western lands allowing the safe passage of trade from the South. If that were to stop, he could foresee the economic deterioration of his lands. He could negotiate trading deals with the East, but Jin had made it clear if the Eastern lands needed anything from the North then they could simply take it. Katsu could only assume that if the North was separated, the East would wait to wage war when their resources were low and they hadn't recovered from the loss of trade. The cost of war was astronomical as well. It would not take long for the North to exhaust their military resources.

"I am to mate with someone in the next six months to produce an heir. If not, the Eastern lord will convince the noble families that the union between one of his daughters and I will make me a competent leader. The nobles can decide whether it is time for me to marry by voting. If I refuse, I lose favor and the work my father did to unite the families under the western banner will be for naught. He is meddlesome, indeed."

Katsu furrowed his brows, "And with that methodology, how will he convince the various noble families that you are an incompetent leader in the first place?"

Sesshomaru frowned before realization flashed in his eyes.

"He plans to present the missing documents in a meeting between the families."

Katsu sighed frustrated, "This does not bode well."

)O(

Nami slowly backed away from the balcony and turned quietly motioning for Tsuki to stand with her just outside the doors to the hall.

Tsuki leaned against the wall and pushed Arashi towards their room that was further down the balcony. "We'll be there later Arashi, promise."

The boy nodded and seemed relieved at the prospect of getting away from a room full of demons.

Nami grinned, "You're getting pretty close to the little man, huh?"

Tsuki blinked and responded slowly, "Yeah, I guess so." The orphan had been an unexpected twist in her life. She loved the way he looked up to her. She never had a family…or siblings. However, if she had the chance to eventually go back home she wasn't sure if she could take him. His life wouldn't be any better living in the inhospitable slums around the bar they called 'home.'

She was snapped out of her thoughts when the other girl spoke.

"Looks like Lord Sesshomaru is in a pickle." She stuck out her tongue playfully.

Nami was looking over to the hall when she spotted a red-haired man chuckling beside a tall, regal looking person. She recognized him as the man she had stuffed into the closet earlier. She clenched her fists when she saw a fold of parchment barely sticking out from underneath the folds of his kimono.

She groaned, "Arghhhh. Damnit" The girl crouched on the floor and pulled her hair in frustration.

"Tsuki, I know who has the documents. I should have figured it out before." She whined softly.

The other teen glanced over to her and traced her line of sight to a red haired demon sporting a yellow kimono.

"Him? Why him?" Tsuki asked curiously.

The redhead sighed, "I was invited to Lord Katsu's quarters earlier and I hadn't realized it before, but he was snooping around for some documents. He said he was Katsu's tributary, but I should have known he was lying." She eyed him as he exchanged words to the same tall demon separate from the group of rambunctious demons. The other demons eyes lit up as a pleased expression graced his face.

Tsuki looked at the tall man beside the tributary. He was tall with jet black hair. His steely greys were set in a face of sharp angles and high cheek bones. He was wearing lavish garments and armor. Definitely, a lord.

Her eyes never left the form of the lord as she began to inch towards him, hiding between the inner entrance and a curtain.

"Perhaps," she replied, "he wasn't lying. Maybe he's playing both sides and pitting them against each other."

"A double-crosser!" Nami exclaimed.

"That, he is. I sense there is mutiny afoot. You need to warn Katsu." Tsuki tapped her bare foot thoughtfully on the ground. The situation between the East and the West could explain Sesshomaru's psychotic behavior. Truly, there weren't many people that walked around that were irritated and enraged all -p[0[[[[[[[[[[[[[the time. However, now that they were fully aware of the situation it didn't mean they _had_ to do something.

Nami nudged the other girl as she grew quiet. "Hey, we gotta do something! That guys going to make an ass of me."

Tsuki shook her head quietly fingering a box in her pocket, "And, why should we do that?" She felt her anger spread throughout her body and her shoulders trembled. Sesshomaru had planned to use her as a device to fill the terms in a treaty. Of course, she suspected something. She didn't, not for a moment, fool herself into believing that the lord actually cared for her in any way. However, it still fucking sucked.

Nami gazed over cautiously at Tsuki. She caught the way the other girl's voice rasped in anger as the last words left her mouth. The redhead could understand Tsuki's dislike for Sesshomaru, but not at when it was at the extent of risking the well-being of possibly...two countries.

"Errr...forget me. We have to do this for...Rin!" Nami stated quickly.

"Rin?" Tsuki folded her arms and passed her a side-glance.

"Right, _Rin._ Our jobs are to protect Rin and by extension if we help Sesshomaru we are securing Rin's safety. Also, there's Arashi." Nami replied.

At the mention of the boy's name, the purple haired woman's eyes softened, "You're right. I can't be selfish. At least, not yet." She lifted her arms towards the sea of titters and chatters rising from the full hall and let the words flow naturally from her lips.

"Undying Earth, grant me time." The group of demons seemed to be caught in a stasis as their actions slowed and the excitement of their conversations came to a halt.

The pair made their way toward the frozen pair. Nami tugged at the scroll between the folds of the kimono and it gave way easily.

"This belongs to us."

)O(

Instead of directly heading towards where Sesshomaru and Katsu were, Nami and Tsuki headed towards their room. As they walked in, Nami kicked a plush pillow out of their path and headed over to her futon where she plopped down. She watched Tsuki head to the desk and lit a candle before smoothing out parchments on the small desk.

Nami inspected the mostly empty room. "Where's Mizu and Kasai?"

"They were dancing in the hall for some of the demonesses the last time I saw them. With fire." Tsuki replied.

"Shit, and I missed it!" Nami exclaimed.

"Well, I'm sure that after the spell wears off they'll still be dancing. You can catch them...AND you can have an alibi just in case that double crosser looks around and you're not there." She grinned as she hovered over the parchment sprawled on top of the desk.

"If you'll remember, you're the only one besides that other lord...Lord Jin, I think his name was, that knows he was looking for the documents." Tsuki finished.

Nami's eyes widened and she got up to smooth the folds out of her dress. "Then, I need to be seen watching attractive dudes dance with fire. If you'll excuse me..."

Tsuki chuckled as Nami scuddled out of the room eagerly. She turned back towards the parchments on her desk and almost mechanically began pouring over the details.

The treaty between Sesshomaru and Jin was pretty cut and dry. Either Sesshomaru married in six months or it was agreed the eastern lord could get involved. However, Sesshomaru failed to mention the other terms of the treaty. There were the alternative options that if the nobles on western lands found Sesshomaru a competent leader they could void the terms altogether. It seems that Sesshomaru was confident that Lord Jin would convince the nobles he was incompetent or maybe he expects the worst and hopes for the best. Or, he really is incompetent.

Tsuki mulled over the idea of an incompetent Sesshomaru and shook her head. He didn't seem the type to be incompetent. In fact, if his attitude the few days were any indicator then he ruled with an iron fist.

The document didn't specify the date when the nobles would be notified. Unless...

_Tonight._

He planned to bring it up tonight. Made sense. It seemed all the noble families from the West and several from the other lands were present. If someone else or Jin were to present the documents when Sesshomaru was supposed to be in possession of them if would seem off-putting to the nobles. If that was true, then she needed to get these documents to Sesshomaru as soon as possible.

She glanced at the other scroll. This was a summons to meet Lord Jin who she assumed was the demon speaking to Katsu's man. Why he wanted to meet was lost on her. He could have heard about what was going on between Sesshomaru and her from a spy, but who? Kasai and Mizu?

That was unlikely. Sesshomaru wouldn't put demons like that around his ward unless he knew what they were capable of. She waved off that idea.

Perhaps, through simple gossip in the castle someone who was hired to spy for Jin reported to him. She wouldn't know for sure until she was face to face with Jin.

She rolled the scrolls up and placed the summons in her desk and slid the treaty into her sleeve. She brushed the hair out of Arashi's eyes whom was sleeping soundly on the futon nearby the desk before making her way towards the door. She wiped her bare feet on a mat before heading out towards the hall once more.

The hall was slightly different now with the banner holders all lining the sides and the musicians playing down tempo, calming melodies. The demons about the room were now congregating around the large table in the middle of the room and sitting down.

Tsuki watched Nami being led to a spot beside Katsu's and across from the wolf prince. Her grinning friend was speaking to a small group of demonesses who burst into a fit of giggles and blushes. All the spots were filled until there were only a few left indicating empty spaces here and there. She found the two empty spots beside Rin and assumed those were for Arashi and her. Maybe Nami and her. They _were_ supposed to be at the girls side at all times. Whoops.

She scratched her neck nervously as she realized she was shirking her duties.

_I got so caught up in all this BS that I forgot to watch Rin._

Rin, who was slid over to sit beside her when she realized Arashi wasn't coming, looked at her curiously.

"Are you okay, Tsuk-Tsuk?" She inquired.

The other girl sighed. "Yes, I'm okay. Just a little bit winded." She rubbed her temples. "It's been a really long day."

"Oh, I see. You had to fight, so I understand. And, you have all these ladies giving you the same look they give me." Rin replied.

Tsuki raised her brow questioningly before she remembered.

_That's right. Rin is human, too._

"Ignore them, Rin. They're jealous that you get to hang out with Sesshomaru." Tsuki grinned.

"Is that what it is?" Rin rubbed her chin thoughtfully before nodding, accepting the other girl's answer.

Tsuki chuckled lightly. She preferred her answer over telling Rin the truth. The girl didn't need to feel like the odd one out at so young an age. She realized the girl was an orphan, so she had endured pain, but that didn't mean she had to learn about every unfortunate thing.

The hall's boisterous conservation quickly hushed and she looked over to see the source of the halls disquiet. Sesshomaru entered the hall from the balcony on a wistful wave of clouds. He motioned for everyone to take their seats and signaled a servant towards the front of the hall.

Tsuki exchanged glances with Nami who was smiling at her encouragingly down the table beside Katsu. She offered a thumbs up. The other girl shook her head turned towards Sesshomaru who was taking his seat beside her at the head of the table. His eyes narrowed slightly as he surveyed the table.

Tsuki followed his line of sight and found the blue eyes of Lord Jin staring directly at her. He was sitting only two chairs down from the one across from hers. She felt her body stiffen under his gaze.

_Does he know I have the documents?_

She quickly dismissed that thought before a thought occurred to her.

_I bet he doesn't even know I've taken the documents._

Tsuki zoned out as the dog demon started addressing his guests. He raised a toast to the lords who were invited there.

_Yadda yadda and formalities and all that smoking hot jazz. _

"Let us celebrate the passing of a new year and a successful tournament marking the camaraderie between our lands." He finished. The guests around the table clapped and cheered.

Tsuki huffed softly. It was at a friend's and a few unfortunate souls' expense that they had such a successful tourney. Not to mention her included. Nevertheless, she raised her glass and smiled cheerily.

The servants chose that time to come in carrying a feast of various foods. As the feast was laid out in front of them Tsuki recognized a few things, but most of the items were a mystery to her. She would stick with the meatbuns and the rice.

She was actually enjoying herself once everyone began eating. She discovered that the demon sitting across from her, Eluvi, was an oracle. She appeared middle-aged, but demon years were deceptive and Tsuki immediately knew she was much older than she let on to be. She was brown eyed and red-haired with a streak of gray starting just above her brow and cascading down with the rest of her locks. She wore a formfitting blue silk dress that shaped her curves and wrapped around the large, round mounds that were her breast.

She also seemed to lack most of the prejudices the other demons had against humans.

"Despite being human, Tsuki-chan, you seem to be unlike the other humans in this region. I've never come across a human with gold eyes and violet hair. What world are you from? One that has technology, yes?" Eluvi asked in a sultry and accented voice.

_Well, color me impressed. She is an oracle._

"Actually, yes." Tsuki grinned as the woman clapped her hands together thrilled.

"I have never met anyone from a different world! A different time, yes, but not world. Tell me a little of your world." She requested staring expectantly at Tsuki.

Tsuki sensed a that Sesshomaru was watching her and she looked over to see if Jin was eavesdropping, but he was exchanging words with a large roguish looking demon.

"Well, Nami and I live in the Sectors of New Arcadia. After the Blitz, the last war, our country was divided up into four sectors. Sector One is for the military alone and recruited soldiers and their families. There's a lot of outrage over this because the other sectors fear that if civil war were to occur again that Sector One would devastate the country. They have easy access to artillery and weapons that could level off acres. Of course, you can purchase weapons and guns in any country, but not the special made weapons used in battle." Tsuki made a hand motion that demonstrated how a soldier would hold an LMG. At their confused looks, she digressed.

"Uh, Sector Two is the agriculture and manufacturing sector. Many families in the nation move there to find work if there is none to find anywhere else. Having an entire sector dedicated to agriculture has made that sector prosperous and the entire country prosperous as a whole. But, don't get me wrong. Not all the sectors are as fortunate as sector two."

Tsuki glanced over to see the dog demon inspecting her. He seem interested, but she couldn't decipher what he was thinking at the moment.

"Sector Three is a residential sector along with Sector Four, but they're completely different. Sector Four is where all the diplomats of our country live along with the one percent. The one percent is the percentage of people that live far above the boundaries and poverty that the rest of us endure. Since our country has been doing well that percentage has raised towards fifteen percent. And then, there's Sector Three."

Tsuki found that the area around her grew slightly quieter as she continued speaking and demons listened. "Sector Three, as already stated, is residential. However, during the Blitz, a chemical agent was used as a weapon to lower the moral in the quadrant now known as Sector Three. It worked, but the results were catastrophic. The agent they used was a virus that turned humans into Husks. It deformed their faces, made many of the victims psychotic, and eventually deteriorated their bodies over time. The husks turned cannibalistic and that further lowered the morale of the soldiers, but soldiers weren't the only victim. There were also civilians. After the war was over, the virus took a different turn. We discovered some of the Husks were capable of cognitive thought and didn't resort to cannibalism, but the country wouldn't allow people with the virus to go to other sectors. It was an ugly truth they didn't want to face. Eventually, they disallowed anyone from leaving or entering the sector, because they claimed everyone in the area was infected with the virus. This is where Nami and I live."

Eluvi gasped, "That is horrible! I'm glad that you are here in Lord Sesshomaru's court. You will love Japan and it's a beautiful country."

"Japan? That's where we are?" Tsuki munched on a meatbun.

"Tsuk-Tsuk didn't know!" Rin poked Tsuki and laughed.

Tsuki blushed and gulped her food down. "No, I didn't." She embarrassedly fiddled with a meatbun.

"Oh, no worries, dear. I'm sure you have had more things to worry about than what country you were in." Eluvi added and lightly chuckled.

"You have no idea."

Tsuki was surprised when she heard the low laughter of Sesshomaru beside her. Her jaw slightly dropped and she noticed the mirth in his eyes.

_He must enjoy making me confused!_

Eluvi leaned forward propping her elbows on the table while resting her chin in her hands. "Oh, I see. You two...seem closer." She winked at Tsuki with a knowing smile.

"Ah, yes. Tsuki and her friend have agreed to become a part of my court and are assisting me with the care of Rin." He smirked as the words left his lips and looked over at Tsuki.

_Fucking liar. That's fine if you want to play that game. _

Tsuki grinned evilly, "If by 'agreed,' you mean begged for my life in exchange for a service." She feigned a terrified damsel expression and grasped the fabric over her heart while batting her eyelashes suggestively at Sesshomaru.

Eluvi and Rin laughed and a few sniggers could be heard down the table, but it only seemed to encourage the dog demon.

He leaned forward and tucked a loose strand behind Tsuki's ear all while saying in a husky voice, "You can't call it a service when you enjoy yourself." He leaned back and watched the transition of smug to horrified on Tsuki's face.

Eluvi covered her mouth with her face trying to muffle her laughs while Rin looked around confused.

"Are you implying-?"

"I wasn't aware you decided to meet the terms of the treaty so soon, Sesshomaru." Jin spoke from his seat. A sea of murmurs arose from some of the guests seated around the lord.

Kuma, who was sitting across from him, curiously asked, "Excuse my prying, but what treaty are you speaking of, Lord Jin?"

"Ah, what treaty, indeed. It is a marriage contract stating that Lord Sesshomaru should marry within the next six months. If he does not and the nobles find him an incompetent leader, then they could vote in favor of a union between my daughter and him." He replied.

Sesshomaru noticed a few of the female demons started excited chatter amongst themselves while the males grinned. This would be a difficult six months dealing with the nobles on his land. Normally, a marriage treaty meant women salivating after his high status while the males assumed he would sleep with most of them.

"However, the more specific terms of the contract are lost on me. Perchance do you have the contract?" Jin was looking directly at Sesshomaru with an evil glint in his eyes.

"I do." Sesshomaru eyes slightly narrowed, but he kept face with an icy, calm exterior. Beside him, Tsuki was pulling the parchment from under her sleeve.

She could attempt to slip it into his hand, but both his hands were placed palms down on the table, gripping it in fury. She tried not to grin when a vengeful thought crept its way into her thoughts. With the scroll pushed to the hem of her sleeve, she reached down and placed her hand on Sesshomaru's knee. She felt his body stiffen as she deftly inched her hand towards his inner thigh.

Sesshomaru started as he felt a hand press against his knee. He was staring down the lord three seats from him with a blank expression, but felt his heart quicken as the hand traveled higher. He steeled himself despite the pressure increasing and the proximity of his crotch and the hand diminishing. He spared a side-glance at Tsuki who sported a triumphant look.

He felt a familiar urge and could feel his arousal growing. He promptly reached under the table to halt her actions. His kin were sensitive to certain _states _and would smell his arousal which would appear inappropriate at a critical time like the one he was being subjected to.

When he slipped his hands unnoticed under the table, instead of a hand, he felt the soft crinkle of paper. He tugged at it and it easily came loose. He held it against his lap and smoothed it out to inspect it. He smirked and looked towards Tsuki, but she was leaning across the table exchanging a look with Nami and extending her thumb upwards.

Sesshomaru chuckled softly. He would have to find some way to make it up to the odd girls.

"The documents are here beside me, Lord Jin." He gripped the documents in his hand and slightly waved them towards Jin. For, a millisecond, Jin appeared distraught.

"It states I can marry anyone I choose before the six months are over. Also, if the nobles already find me a competent and sufficient leader, they can choose to void the document altogether. These were the specific terms you were describing, correct?" Sesshomaru bore a smug expression as he rolled the document up and tucked it into a fold of his haori.

"Yes, those were the terms." Jin replied, but he looked murderous as he searched for a red-haired tributary.


End file.
